Four Founders' story
by aslansphoenix
Summary: This is a story where Salazar is proud to be evil (though is not the villain of the story), Rowena married lord Ravenclaw, Helga is mother to many and Godric is always thought of as a boy. It can count as canon - if you just take note of the books and not of any new information from J. K. Rowling. I think it is amusing so ENJOY!
1. Chapter 1

_Author's note: Hello Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year – I don't know how well this story will be – I'll either put in way too many descriptions and we won't ever get anywhere, or not enough and it will be too short, but hey we'll see how it goes. _

**Anyway, I do not own Harry Potter or anything to do with it**__

_This is a story of the Four Founders – a tale which talks of their decisions and the reasons behind them. This is the story of Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Godric Gryffindor_

Chapter one – first meeting

Salazar was 20 when they first all met; it was at his father's Birthday Ball. All the lords and ladies from the pure blood families had been invited, including the new Lord Ravenclaw with his fiancée, a middle class witch of 16 who went by the name of Rowena, and the Duke of Glen with his wife and their two children 14 year old Horace and 13 year old Helga.

However Sal wasn't interested in the party, he was only here because it was his duty. Where he really wanted to be was back at his château with his wife, Selena, who was seven months pregnant with his heir, and despite the front that he put on, Sal was actually a big worry-wart. So because of this and the fact that he and his father never got on that well – he found the celebration to be very boring.

Helga was one of those people who always seem to be smiling, though at the moment she was sulking – she hated attending formal gatherings like this, she would have much preferred to sneak away to the kitchens and hang out with the servants, but no her father said that as a duchess she was required to attend these gatherings. She walk through the doors, behind her family and surveyed the room, it was a huge ballroom decorated in green and silver – the colours of the Slytherin family.

Rowena was a nervous wreak, on the inside at least. This was the first real time that she was going to be around other people of the upper-class system. In reality she would have rather immersed herself in Richard's library – that was the main reason she had agreed to let him court her, the Ravenclaw library was huge. The down side of marrying a lord though, was that she had to attends gatherings such as this – and the truth was she wasn't sure if she was up to the task of masquerading as an upper-class lady.

What happened at that party was called different things by different people, Helga and Rowena constantly argued over weather it was fate (Helga) or just pure coincidence (Rowena), what ever it was, the three founders attending the party all decided to leave at almost the same time and walk around the grounds. Sal wandered around his childhood home, he paused by the snake cage to converse politely, but at that time of day the snakes were only interested in sleeping so he soon left them behind and was just walking aimlessly, staring at the scenery when suddenly he bumped into someone.

It was a lady of 16, dressed in a gown of blue and white. She had long brown hair and a face that could be considered both beautiful and proud, though Sal could tell that she wasn't an upper-class lady, she still held herself as one – he remembered that she the fiancée of Lord Ravenclaw.

Rowena had been watching a bird fly when she bumped into a man, he was tall and thin with ebony black hair that was held neatly in a pony-tail – as was the fashion of that time – he had a small goatee and a cruel face but if a sharp-eyed person looked closely they would see his eyes hid a twinkle of warmth, she recognised him as the Slytherin heir by his green and silver robes.

All this was taken in, in a second, then Sal curled his lip and sneered "watch where you are going, will you", Ro glared at him "excuse me, _my lord, _but I believe it was _you_ who banged into me, which indicates that you _sire, _that is in need of having your eyes checked out" he opened his mouth to retort when they heard a light feathery giggle and a girl "actually I think you both might need to watch where you are going"

They both turned to stare at the new arrival; it was a plump but pretty girl with soft blond hair and bright eyes, she was wearing a soft yellow dress, and was laughing at them. Sal glanced at her and said politely "you are the Duke of Glen's daughter", her smile disappeared slightly as she scowled and said "yeah and you are the heir of Slytherin, but those things are only titles and don't matter do they" Ro laughed at that, Helga held out her hand to her and said "hi I'm Helga, what is your name?" Ro shook her hand and introduced herself "I am Rowena Nightpaw, soon to Rowena Ravenclaw" Helga smiled again and was about to say something when they interrupted yet again, this time by a cruel sneering voice

"Well, well, well, looksee what we got here boys", the three found themselves backed against a tree and surrounded by a group a men dressed in black – all holding a wand and a knife, pointing at them. The three attempted to reach into their robes and grab their own wands, but one of the men did a quick summoning charm – leaving the three quite defenceless. The man standing directly in front of Helga seemed to be the leader and was speaking to his men.

"This lot 'ere should make us lots and lots of gold, let's see – a Duchess, a lord/heir of Slytherin and a soon-to-be Lady of Ravenclaw - We's made quite a good deal at this 'ere party, ain't we lads" the other men smirked and laughed as they went about the business of tying the prisoners up – proving that though they had wands, they weren't very skilled at magic. However they seemed to be at home with using their knives, as was shown by how the leader pressed his knife to Helga's throat and opened his mouth to say something more.

Suddenly they heard a shout "Hey leave them alone you thugs!" Everyone turned their heads in time to see a boy running at them, the men laughed and one of them lunged at him – thinking it would be easy to knock the boy off his feet. He couldn't have been more wrong.

The boy side-stepped the lunging man, causing him to fall to the ground. The boy carried on sprinting and punched the lead bandit right nose. This made him stagger back slightly and yowl in pain and shock. The boy picked up a fallen stick from the tree and twirled it around then held it in front of him like a sword. The leader clutched his bleeding nose and yelled at his followers "don't just stand there idiots, get him!" a few men jumped at the boy and he whirled his "sword" around - knocking one man down, hitting another on his head and poking one guy hard in the stomach. Sal noticed that he boy then stood back, as if waiting for the men to get back up.

This (as Sal knew) was the first mistake that the boy made, Helga let out a scream as all the men lunged at the boy and soon there was a huge pile with struggling people, the three tied up could see that the leader had managed to grab the boy by his neck and was choking – then it happened. Ro felt it first – a wave of just pure power. Suddenly the bandits found themselves flying, with no control over where they were going. The three sat in shock as everyone and everything was pushed away from the boy.

For a few moments the bandits sat where they had fallen, staring at the boy then all got up and ran as fast as they could towards the exits. What the boy did next was (the other three all agreed) the strangest thing they had ever seen … at that time. The boy sat up with a dazed expression on his face and asked "What just happened?" Sal was in shock – a boy with that much power, and he didn't even know he had it? Ro made a small noise as if she was going to explain exactly what happened, but that small sound was enough to make the boy remember the three.

He jumped up, picked up a fallen knife and began cutting away at the rope. When he finished they surveyed him – he looked about ten years old, and had short, untamed, red/gold hair and deep blue eyes like the sea on a beautiful day, you could tell just by looking at him that he was going to grow up to be a very tall and handsome man, though Helga doubted he would ever loose his childish disposition. His clothing suggested that he was a servant of some kind.

Rowena spoke first "thank you young man (the boy puffed up at that – well he is ten) it was very brave" Sal interrupted here "and stupid, you could have gotten yourself killed" the boy looked up at him confusion on his face "and let them hurt them hurt all of you?" he asked as if that was an impossibility, Sal raised an eye-brow – leaving others to feel pain was something he had been raised to not feel bad about, and he just couldn imagine doing what this boy did for them.

Helga smiled at the boy "what is name?" he gave her a smile that would melt the hardest of hearts and answered "Godric Gryffindor," Ro smiled, and said "that was some very impressive moves you did" he grinned at her and answered with a distinctive note of pride in his voice "yeah I want to be a knight when I grow up … if I can get the training" this last part was said sadly, suddenly he seemed to realise that he was talking to people, he blushed and looked down "er - I – I should get back to work" he turned to leave but Sal stopped him – surprising himself "wait, er, Godric, what do you mean work?" because even in this time ten year olds weren't really supposed to work.

Godric turned to face them "I'm the new stable boy sir" he said with a grain of defiance in his voice, Ro said hesitantly "you are just working, so that when you go to school you can impress your friends with the money that you make?" he shook his head "no miss, I don't go to school" Helga frowned "and what do your parents think of this?" Godric shrugged "don't have any parents, and if you'll excuse me I have to go before they catch me, bye my lord, my ladies" he bowed to the three of them and ran off.

That night three people went to bed with a plan in their heads that would change a little boy's life, and though they did not know it at the time, both their own lives and the fate of the world.

Helga was thinking of it as a chance to make new friends and maybe start to help change the world for the better. Rowena was thinking of all things she could learn and of being able to pass her own skills on. And Sal, Sal was attempting to convince himself that he what he was going to do was just to repay his wizard's debt to the boy, and maybe be able to gain some control over Godric's power – he was refusing to believe that it was because he wanted to help the lad out.

As for Godric, he fell asleep with visions of knights and damsels dancing in his head, dreams of fighting dragons and saving the day – though this dream there were three figures, one in green, one in blue and one in yellow – they stood cheering him on and in his sleep Godric Gryffindor smiled

**Author's Note – yay end of this chapter! Thank you soo much for reading, I hope you liked it. I would just like to say that Salazar Slytherin is going to be a good guy in this story – he has a lot of bad qualities, but he is a good guy. By the way the characters are how I imagine they might look and act.**

**Oh and I am now 17!**


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's note: Hey hope you like this story thank you for reading and liking. And oops I made a mistake it was Ravenclaw from Glen, Hufflepuff was from Valley Broad sorry _

**Anyway, I do not own Harry Potter or anything to do with it. Well I do own all the characters that you don't recognise, but they belong to the Harry Potter world so they don't really count.**__

_This is a story of the Four Founders – a tale which talks of their decisions and the reasons behind them. This is the story of Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Godric Gryffindor_

Chapter Two – 2 months later

Godric woke up early, as usual, to the head of the staff, Mr Brown shouting "get up you lazy scum-bag, the master isn't paying you to laze around all day" Godric rubbed his eyes as he got out of his bunk but grinned cheekily and said "but Mr Big-nose I don't get paid anything" his grin was wiped from him as Mr Brown slapped him round his head "none of your cheek boy, you get food, clothes that fit and shelter – that should be enough for you. Now get going, stop wasting my time" Godric stuck out his tongue at the bitter old man and ran out of the room.

He ran into the kitchen and bumped into Elinor Smith, a 25 year old kitchen maid. She turned around and shook her head "Godric Gryffindor – you young rascal, what did you do to get into trouble at this time of the morning?" He shrugged and said as he stole some cake "nothing, Mr Big-nose just doesn't like me?" she laughed and took the cake from him "oh Godric why can't you just accept your place in life? You cause more trouble than everyone else combined and why?"

He grinned and stole the cake back from her as he answered "Because one day I'm going to be a knight and I'm not going to let treatment of the poor continue – one day I'm going to come back and rescue everyone here, and make everyone equals" Elinor smiled at him "that's a wonderful dream Godric, but things like that just don't happen to people like us – how do you plan on becoming a knight anyway? And no you can't have that cake"

He grinned again, melting her heart and her resolve on the issue of the cake. He grabbed the bag of apples set out for the horses and said as he went through the door "that's why we have to have hope Eli– without hope we are nothing, but if we keep on hoping and keep on fighting – then maybe one day we'll win" and with that the boy was gone, Elinor chuckled - one day Godric would learn about the cruelty of the world and would realise that there was nothing that he could do, but until then she was happy to let him dream.

If Elinor Smith had known what was going to happen that day, she would not have thought what she did, for that day Godric's life - and by extension the world would be changed forever. He was stables and had just finished grooming the horses (afterwards he was forever grateful that he had not been in the middle of cleaning the manure out), when Mr Brown came and told him to follow him.

He lead Godric into the mansion and up the stairs to the Lord's quarters, a place that servants weren't allowed – of course Godric had sneaked in a couple of times but this was his first time there with permission, and he was feeling very nervous about it. Mr Brown wouldn't answer any of his questions (though that may have been because he knew it annoyed the boy) but lead him to a grand door.

Mr Brown knocked on the door and it opened of it's own accord, they both stepped through the door and Godric recognised the room as the study that belonged to Lord Slytherin as he had once climbed in through the window on a dare, nothing seemed to have changed - it was a dark room with grey colouring, the walls had green snakes that seemed to slither everywhere and right in front of the fireplace was a huge desk. The only difference was that sitting behind the desk was a man.

Godric knew him to be the old Lord Slytherin, he was tall and thin like Sal, but his hair was silver and there was no twinkle of warmth in eyes. Mr Brown bowed and pushed Godric into a bow as well, "the boy you requested my Lord" Mr Brown said in a slimy voice "thank you Mr Brown, you may go" the Lord Slytherin had a sharp and cold voice the kind that made one think one was always in trouble.

For a few minutes the old man and boy surveyed each other then the lord ordered "come here boy" Godric reluctantly went, wondering for the thousandth time what he had done that was so bad he had to be sent to see him. When he got to the desk, Lord Slytherin spoke "two months ago at my birthday anniversary, my son Salazar tells me that he and two others – both ladies, he tells me that they were captured by a group of bandits while out walking in the grounds, me son tells me that you, Mr Gryffindor, saved their lives

Godric shifted uncomfortably "well I didn't really save their lives, I mean they were going to be held for ransom, and besides I didn't really do anything it was that weird pulse thing …" "silence boy, you do not speak to your betters unless they ask you to" Godric glowered but nodded and said "yes _sir_" the Lord nodded and continued "yes well it appears that Salazar would like to re-pay you, and has offered to give a position in his staff at the Slytherin Château, where he lives with his wife and heir"

Godric nodded, "you are to be the present for my grandson's christening, my son expressly asked for the boy with gold hair named Godric Gryffindor" he nodded again, so that was what it was all about – another change. Change was something he was used to do, because he was a magnet for trouble Godric had been shipped from place to place. The reason might be different, but the situation would be the same he thought as he listened to the Lord tell him that his son would comer and meet him at the ground's boundaries at twelve noon the next day. Oh how wrong he was.

It was just on twelve o'clock when Godric sprinted out of the gates – he hadn't been able to resist pulling one last prank on Mr Brown and as such had had to run to make the appointment, he skidded to a stop just as the village bells tolled twelve. Panting slightly he looked up and was surprised to see four people standing before him – there was Sal, Ro, Helga and an old man that was standing there laughing. He had a white bed and warm eyes and despite his obvious age he looked strong, he was wearing robes of red and … he carried a sword.

He stared at them, wondering what was going on. The old man spoke in a gruff voice "so is this the boy then?" Rowena nodded and Helga stepped forward "Hello Godric, remember us?" he nodded slowly then asked "what's going on? I was told that I was to be a servant for hi… er Lord Salazar Slytherin" Sal smirked "you were but the truth is I don't need another servant, and … well you saved our lives … so to repay the debt, we are going to help you achieve your dream"

Godric stared wide-eyed as Helga continued "Godric this is an old family friend of mine, Sir Alexander de Ardent-Coeur* he is a retired Knight and a wizard who has agreed to train you in the ways of both knight and wizard" Godric looked at her "what do you mean wizard?" he asked her guardedly, but it was Ro who answered "we mean you are a wizard – a powerful one to, if that day two months was anything to go by" this made him look even more shocked "you mean that was me?" she nodded.

He looked at each of them as if trying to see if they were lying, after a while he asked "is - is – is this really happening, I'm not dreaming? Not dead?" Sir Alex nodded "aye lad, you'll be coming home with me to the Wild Moore …" he didn't get any further and Godric interrupted his face glowing "the Wild Moore! I was born there!" Sir Alex chuckled at that, Godric turned to face the others and whispered "thankyou" then did something that shocked all of them – he hugged Salazar.

Sal was beyond shock, but as the young boy hugged him he felt – warmth, a warmth he had never felt before, it was situated somewhere in his chest area right where his heart was and to his surprise he enjoyed it. You see that hug was actually Sal's first one ever – his family didn't believe in physical contact and they weren't close enough to hug each other anyway and his cold façade normally kept people at bay so as it was it was his first hug ever.

Godric released Sal and moved on to hug Ro, she was more prepared for it than Sal had been, though she did wish he wouldn't squeeze so tightly, she felt that he might break her in half. Helga was next and she hugged Godric just as hard back, finally he hugged Sir Alex and the old man patted his back. When he finished he turned to grin at the others "will I get to see to see you all again?" they were all touched by that – this boy who had not only saved them, but wanted to be friends with them … and he didn't even know any of them properly.

Sir Alex answered before any of them could even formulate an answer "of course ye will lad – I've invited them to spend a week with us at the start of the next month" by the look on their faces the invitation had only just been given, Helga was the first to recover "that would be amazing Sir! Thankyou" Rowena looked interested "that would be a great opportunity to learn some new things, so yes Godric you will see me there" Sal sighed "well you can't really expect me to just leave you to face these girls by yourself – so … you better have a good place to stay" the part was said to Sir Alex, who laughed and nodded.

This was the first day of Godric's new life and for the first time that he could remember he went to sleep wanting to wake up and face the day – more than he wanted to live in his dreams.

**A/N - Thankyou for reading I hope you like it I think I will do a companion story to talk about the training that Godric will receive, in depth. Otherwise until next time. **


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's note: Hey umm … thanks for reading, enjoy, sorry for any grammatical mistakes I make. Oh and I forgot to say Sir Alexander de Ardent-Coeur means Alexander of strong-heart._

**Anyway, I do not own Harry Potter or anything to do with it. Well I do own all the characters that you don't recognise, but they belong to the Harry Potter world so they don't really count.**__

_This is a story of the Four Founders – a tale which talks of their decisions and the reasons behind them. This is the story of Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Godric Gryffindor_

Chapter three – The decision

Before this story goes much further, there is something I should tell you as it becomes very important later on. It was said in the last chapter that Godric was to be given to Sal as a christening present for his son Salvadore Slytherin – this was why they had to wait for two months. Now if Sal had never met the other three founders and especially Godric, then Salvadore Slytherin might have grown up to be a perfectly nice guy. But if that happened then three things would not have occurred – 1) Hogwarts would not be as we know it, 2) the tale of Harry Potter would never have happened and 3) this story would not be worth telling.

Seven years had passed since that day, many things had happened in that time - Helga had, at the age of 16 eloped with the local baker, Henry Hufflepuff, she now had two boys the age of three which she was adamantly keeping them away from Godric, for she thought, (and she was probably right), that he was a very bad influence on them. Not that he was bad, just the opposite, it was impossible to find a person that was more on the light side than Sir Godric Gryffindor, but despite now being of age and having been knighted by the muggle king – on his birthday – Godric was still just as immature and naïve as when he was ten years old.

The four had continued to meet up all through the years – for the first week of every second month they would all go to a cabin in a forest, which was owned by Sir Alex. In those times they had all become very close – they were their own small family. This day was the third day of one such week, Sal and Rowena were playing chess while they debated some silly topic, Helga was baking something delicious (she was the chef in their 'family – no one was a better cook than Helga Hufflepuff, in that time) when Godric came in.

They immediately noticed something was wrong, Godric usually came in and hugged them, or did something annoying, he was always loud and fast and he was one of those people that can never be still – they have to move or seem to go insane, so when Godric came in, quietly, slowly and went straight to stand at the windows thoughtfully, with nothing more than a vague hello, they knew that something was off.

"Godric … is everything all right?" asked Helga hesitantly he glanced at them in shock as if he had only just realised they were there "umm… nothing is wrong, it's just … just … you see those boys at the bottom of the hill" the looked through the window they saw three boys of maybe 13 or 14, playing in the stream that wound it's way around the bottom of the hill.

Sal nodded "yes, what about them?" Godric was still staring thoughtfully at the boys as he answered "I was talking to them just now, and … and, they all have magic – I could sense it and I saw them use it, but they have no control …" Rowena realised what was bothering him, Godric for thinking that he could make the world what he thought it should be, as in fair for everyone. And they always seemed to have this conversation as he just couldn't understand why it shouldn't be.

"Godric, we've been through this – yes there are quite a few people who have magic, but they don't learn how to control it because they can't afford a teacher – and before you speak, you were lucky, you had Sir Alex and us." Godric looked at her "well, why can't we give that to everyone else?" the others looked at him – Godric's eyes were brighter than usual, alive with an idea, but it was an idea that the others didn't understand yet.

"What do you mean Godric?" asked Helga "why can't we teach them? I mean I learned everything I could from Sir Alex – both about magic and being a knight, and you guys all helped as well, so why can't we start a school and let kids come for free – then they could learn how to control their magic" Sal sighed "great plan Godric, just tell me something – do you have a place you can use as a school?, and do you have the money to run a school for free?"

As always Godric had an answer to give "we could find a place – you guys always told me that the four of us should take a break from our lives to travel up England, we should do that and at the same time we could search for a suitable place, and as for money well, at first we shouldn't need any – I mean if it's just us teaching, and then when we do … well the students will need stationary, books and … wands! The sellers could donate a percentage of their sales to the school! And …"

"Wow, calm down Godric" said Helga "that sounds like an amazing dream, and it would change the world – for the better, but … all of us have lives, we wouldn't be able to come" this did nothing to dampen Godric's enthusiasm, he just shrugged "well I'll go then, it will be an amazing adventure and an awesome opportunity" and with that he grabbed his sword and left the room – obviously going to clean and sharpen his sword, something he did routinely.

After he had gone, the others looked at each other in exasperation Sal sighed "we can't just let him go by himself" Helga nodded "he'll kill himself, if not because of his adventurous nature, it'll be because he has to go save some poor being harassed person" Rowena looked thoughtful "you know it would be an amazing opportunity to learn some new things" Sal nodded "and think of how much social status we would gain with ruling a school …" he trailed off and Helga carried on "and it would change the world for the better … Godric is going to go with or without us, isn't he?" the others nodded "well I suppose … it would make for a fantastic story for the twins"

And that was how the decision came about, the four would go on a trip that would last a year, if they found a suitable spot a school would be made. Helga's twin boys were ecstatic about the idea that their mum was going on an adventure, Rowena's Husband was just as excited about his wife gaining more knowledge as she was – only Salvadore Slytherin was unhappy with the idea, but none of them noticed. And so the four founders set out on their journey and the start of Hogwarts history began.

**A/N – Thank you for reading, hope you like it. I'm sorry that I won't be able tell you where they go, just of their experiences, as I know nothing of the geography of England but I hope you don't mind.**


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's note: ok this is the one time I will ask for reviews or feedback of any type, are you willing to wait for me to write another story (Four Idiots Read Chamber of Secrets) or, if you have read the Philosopher's stone, can you wait for me to finish this one? _

**Anyway, I do not own Harry Potter or anything to do with it. Well I do own all the characters that you don't recognise, but they belong to the Harry Potter world so they don't really count.**__

_This is a story of the Four Founders – a tale which talks of their decisions and the reasons behind them. This is the story of Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Godric Gryffindor_

Chapter four – the Troll

So you all know that Godric, Helga, Rowena and Salazar were the greatest witches and wizards of their age, but how did they get that fame? When they started their journey they were all fairly well known (Helga a source of gossip, Ro – a female scholar, Sal known in society and Godric – a poor boy who had become a muggle knight, and was a wizard), but it wasn't until after the first isolated village they visited, that they really became famous.

There had been a bit of argument over how they were going to travel, Godric had wanted to ride everywhere – acting like muggles, but as he was the only one who could actually ride a horse, the idea was thrown out straight away. Sal wanted to just stick to the towns and cities where there would be comfort all the time, but the others all turned that idea down. Eventually it was decided that they would apparate to each town, village etcetera, then stay with them for a night and move on the next day, and they would walk through each forest for a week before moving on – so that they could determine if there was a suitable area around them.

At first everything went smoothly, they visited three towns and one village, and everything had gone to plan. But then they came to a small village nestled in some mountains. Out of curtesy to the people, the four always apparated just outside the boundaries of wherever they were going. So they were walking up a small hill to get to this certain village, but when they came to it, there was nobody around.

After they had gone a little way in, and had not heard a sound they stopped "where is everyone?" asked a worried Helga, Rowena looked confused "this is not an inhabited village, I checked before we left" Sal looked thoughtful "maybe they are in hiding, I mean if they've heard we have Godric 'bottom-less-stomach' Gryffindor with us" no one laughed, Godric looked at them "something has happened, they must all be in a safe spot, my guess is the … the church!" with that he started running leaving the others in shock, before they ran after him.

They caught up to him; Sal vaguely noticed that the three of them were panting while Godric still stood upright, staring at a church. Helga looked at him "why … a church, Godric?" it was Rowena who answered as they walked cautiously up the steps "because a church is considered a place of safety". Sal looked disbelieving but didn't say anything as Godric nocked on the doors. After a bit of waiting, where Sal was thinking they should just move on, one of the doors creaked opened.

"Quickly, come in" hissed a voice and they were ushered in by a short, bald priest. They stood in a small chamber, just outside the main room and surveyed each other. Godric stepped forward, but the priest spoke first "it is dangerous outside, who are you strangers?" Helga noted that he spoke with a half terrified, half hopeful whisper, Godric opened his mouth "why is it dang …" but Rowena spoke over him "we are travellers we sought to spend the night in this village, I am Lady Ravenclaw, this is Lord Slytherin, Duchess ("former" coughed Helga) Hufflepuff and this is Sir Godric Gryffindor" at the word 'sir' the priest looked up at Godric (he actually had to as Godric stood at 6 foot and 4 inches) with awe.

"You … you are a knight, a warrior?" his voice hopeful, Godric nodded "yes, now tell me what happened here?" Sal groaned as he realised that whatever problem, this village had – Godric would try to fix. Instead of answering him, the priest fell to his knees and started praying "Thankyou Lord for sending us one who can deliver us from this monster" the four looked at each other in shock, not knowing what to do.

Suddenly the priest stood and ran through the doors shouting "salvation! We will be freed from the monster!" Godric made the mistake of following him and shouting "what is this monster you speak of?" the other three groaned, for in the main hall of the church was, what must have been the entire village – all huddling together in groups, the priest had called their attention and Godric just had to walk in. Everything about Godric always screamed look at me, but he had to go in shouting, 'now' thought Sal 'we shall never get out of here'

Both Sal and Rowena tried to hold back as the crowed converged on them, but to no avail they were dragged in, introduced to about a hundred names in the space of five minutes, Sal heard Helga introducing them and making friends, Godric was saying over and over again "yes I am a knight, yes it's nice to meet you to, Now will someone please tell me what the monster is!", eventually a large bearded man yelled in a booming voice "**give them some space will you?"** and finally Sal found that he could breath again, the man ushered them over to a table and sat down with them saying "sorry about that, I'm Benny Smith, chief of this town"

Godric shook his hand "hi, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. Now will you please tell me what the monster is!" he said all this very fast so as to get it across before anyone else could interrupt him. Benny gave a throaty chuckle "nice to meet you all (Godric growled) ok, ok, it's a mountain troll, a few weeks back it started coming into our village every other night, it steals our live-stock, and soon we fear that it will move onto people, please we have tried to fight it but none of the men who went, came back. But maybe a warrior would be able to defeat it, please"

Godric grinned his impish smile at him "now was that so hard to say?" Benny smiled at him "so Sir, will you help us?" he asked hopefully, but before Godric could answer Rowena cut in "Chief, you are asking our friend to go into an extremely dangerous situation, perhaps you could give us some alone time to think it over" Benny nodded and left the table saying he'll get them some food and drink. When he was gone Sal spoke "we can't do this, it is to dangerous, I say we leave first thing in the morning"

Helga sighed "but we can't really leave all these people to fend for themselves, it would be wrong" Rowena looked at her "well what can we do?" Godric looked at them "we fight, come on guys, there is no honour in leaving, look around you – all these people their counting on us, on me, to free them, we can't let them down, and besides it will be a great adventure. Come Ro, you're the smartest of us – surely you know of some spell that would defeat a troll" Rowena glared at him "don't be ridicules Godric there is no such …" suddenly her eyes got a glassy look in them, then she shook her head.

"No Godric …" but he leant in "there is a spell isn't there," he grinned at her and she sighed in defeat, Godric could get anything with his childlike smile. "Well there is charm, but it would have to be cast at the troll's head, and I don't know how that can be achieved safely" Godric grinned again, Helga sighed "you have a plan don't you" he nodded "you guys in?" he asked looking excitedly at them "I promise if all of us are involved, only the troll will get hurt" the girls rolled their eyes "well I guess you will need me to cast the spell" Helga nodded "and if I don't go, you will end up hurt" Godric looked at Sal who glared

"No way, there is nothing you can say that will convince me to take part in any crazy plan" he stood up "if you three want to play hero go right ahead but don't come crying to me when your dead" he turned and stormed away, as he left he heard Helga saying to Godric "leave him, he is just worried for us, he will be alright" Sal snorted, him worried about them! Never, if they wanted to get themselves killed fighting some stupid troll, well let them.

The plan was simple – Godric would distract the troll and make it chase him away from the village and into spot which had cliffs surrounding it, Helga would then use magic to block the entrance and get Godric out of there, he would continue to distract the troll so that Rowena could sneak behind and get close enough to cast the spell. That was the plan and the first part went off without a hitch, Godric managed to get the troll into the area and Helga had closed it off, then things went wrong.

Godric was just being levitated up the cliff, when an earthquake occurred, shaking the ground and causing the two founders to fall into the pit, and when Rowena, from her safe place tried to prevent the fall, a small rock fell from above and knocked her wand out of her hand. So things were going wrong – Godric had to fend off an angry rampaging mountain troll, Helga was busy trying to shield Godric and find a way out and Rowena was attempting to sneak down, so as to retrieve her wand.

Godric had managed to draw the troll away from the girls, well as far as he could, and was climbing up the rubble where the pit had been blocked, he was just leaping from one rock to another – a little carelessly, which caused him to slip slightly, and be hit by the troll. Godric bit his tongue as he felt the bones in his sword arm break, not the worse pain he had suffered, but was among the worse things that could happen – given his situation. The troll pulled back to hit again, this one, Godric knew, would be fatal.

But it never came. Just as the troll pulled back, he suddenly stopped mid-swing, and collapsed backwards, through a haze of pain, Godric looked up and saw "Sal!" Sal lowered his wand and looked at the others "you didn't think Rowena was the only one that learned spells like that did you?" the other three grinned appreciatively and Godric opened his mouth to speak but Sal cut him off "and before you say anything, Godric, I did not save you guys because I care about any of you, I saved you because it boosts my own image and status, understand"

Godric grinned "tell yourself that all you like Sal, I know that you are good" and with that he fainted, Sal shook his head as he and the girls rushed to help him "he always has to have the last word doesn't he"

**A/N – I am so sorry times a million, I am sorry that this chapter took so long and I am so sorry the chapter sucked. I've changed my mind, you do not need to review this (of I will be happy if you do, but it is not necessary) and I will write the second book of the four idiots reading Harry Potter, though at this moment I am just not in the writing mood.**

**Anyway I am sorry but thank you for reading. **


	5. Chapter 5

**_Author's note:_**_ HI – I am soo sorry for the long wait I did not mean to take so long on my other stories, but now I have decided to work on all stories – might mean slow up-dates, but this one will be up-dated; which after re-reading in order to get my head in the story TOTALLY needs to happen. _

_Though I'm sorry if my writing is sort of weird._

**Anyway, I do not own Harry Potter or anything to do with it. Well I do own all the characters that you don't recognise, but they belong to the Harry Potter world so they don't really count.**

_This is a story of the Four Founders – a tale which talks of their decisions and the reasons behind them. This is the story of Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Godric Gryffindor._

Chapter five – Love.

After the troll incident word about the four friends seemed to spread out all across England and they all found themselves being subjected to towns and villages asking for help (which Godric always somehow managed to convince the others to give and Sal always grumbled and attempted to convince himself of doing for selfish reasons) and hosting feasts in the four friends' names.

Which while may have been fun for all at first – Helga always enjoyed meeting and making new friends, Ro found the customs of different places fascinating, Sal adored having the benefits of being famous and Godric just loved the feeling and knowledge that he helped those in need and that doing so always seemed to be a step closer to making his dream of equality a reality.

But it also had its down-side; being famous meant that when in towns they had very little privacy and Godric as the 'hero' of the group particularly suffered. So it was that they eventually took to travelling through the woods – avoiding people and giving them all a bit of privacy and giving Godric a break from those that seemed to think he was their property.

As the others had predicted when they had first meet, Godric was incredibly good looking but had never lost his boyish heart melting smile and innocent but mischievous twinkle of his eye; and Godric's good looks combined with his irresistible personality and the fact that he was a powerful wizard (even though he preferred behaving like a normal muggle knight than using magic) and was always the one who ran head first into danger (much to Helga's displeasure – as he also always managed to get hurt) meant that he was often besotted by 'fans' of the female gender.

This was something that was amusing to the other three, as Godric had absolutely no idea about females – his knightly honour as well as his own personal code of conduct demanded that he treat every single female no matter what age or upbringing they had, as if they were the highest born most beautiful lady in the world, but to him it was purely politeness and he was not looking for anything with it. Helga didn't help matters as she was constantly trying to set Godric up – but the boy just remained oblivious to all attempts.

While staying in the last village one of the children had asked Godric if he had a lady friend, Godric had laughed and answered that when he met the one he would know, but until then he was happy with not having a relationship other than that with his 'family'.

Sal who had overheard this conversation and knew Godric would have been talking about Sal himself and the ladies, tried to ignore the warm feeling of pride when Godric said that. It had become a game for the Lord Slytherin; ignoring the warm fluffy feelings that Godric (mostly, though sometimes Helga and occasionally Rowena) always seemed to install in him, but as he and Ro complained about constantly – Godric Gryffindor had the annoying habit of always winning.

With the exception of Helga (who thought Godric should settle down; in the vain hope that he would mature slightly) the others were content with Godric being single – he was only 17 after all, and his lack of knowledge or experience in any relationship was amusing to watch.

It was when they were travelling through some uncharted woods – that they had already determined would not be a suitable area for a school but was a peaceful place to travel through ... well it was until they meet up with some old "friends".

It was almost evening, Helga was busy happily making dinner while secretly keeping an eye on the others – Rowena and Salazar, who both hated being outside (Ro because she was more of an inside gal, and Sal because he liked the comforts of being inside) were sitting in a protective bubble and playing a game of chess (Sal was losing – even though he was also cheating) and Godric was sitting a little way off sharpening and cleaning his sword.

The only time Godric was ever silent, still and serious was when he was looking after his weapons, to the young knight keeping his weaponry in the upmost readiness was one of his most important jobs, and one ritual he carried out daily.

Suddenly a scream pierced the air. Before the others had even registered what they heard Godric was up and sprinting towards the sound "Godric!" cried Helga but of course he didn't listen and was already in the distance, the other three exchanged exasperated looks before getting up and running after him; Sal muttering something about "God-Damned-Good-Doer-Gryffindors."

They found themselves on the edge of a slightly larger clearing than the one they had vacated, where they saw Godric holding his sword up towards an offender and surrounded by a bunch of filthy robbers. The skidded to a halt and Sal cried out angrily "Godric you idiot! Use your wand!" everything seemed to freeze as the band and the friends paused to stare in shock at each other.

It was the same 'gentlemen' that had attempted to hold them to ransom ten years earlier, Helga unconsciously raised a hand to her neck where the leader had held his knife to, the same man who was standing in the centre of the circle of bandits with Godric. The slimy man sneered at the new comers "Would ye look'y tha' boys – it's the lil' upper-crustians tha' would have made us richer then the king" Rowena winced at the poor grammar that he was using.

"Get them" the leader commanded but before anyone else could react Godric had pulled out his wand and cast a protective charm around the outside of the circle – preventing the bandits from attacking the others ... and preventing the others from helping Godric. Sal had just enough time to hope that Godric would just quickly finish this hero nonsense he insisted on doing, before Godric threw his 13 inch, oak and phoenix feather wand to him – clearly he had challenged the leader to a duel and planned on fighting with just his sword.

Sal scowled as he caught the wand and muttered "he just has to do things the muggle way doesn't he" the two ladies shrugged – Godric loved magic and wanted to help others be able to use and control it; but seldom used it himself – annoying Salazar to no end. The man turned in anger to face Godric "An' ye must be tha' lil' brat who stopped us from gettin' our spoils!" Godric grinned though his eyes were flashing with fire "I told you not to touch them, now as I was saying before – you have one chance to let all of us go, or I kick your ass."

He received his answer when the other man attacked; knife in his left hand and wand in his right. A few of the more foolish men joined in while the majority just stood cheering on the fight, a couple did notice Helga slipping around the edge to where the prisoner was, but Sal and Ro were wandering around the circle as well – and they both looked very impressively intimidating in their robes holding their wands and with their good but very cold looks the views decided it would be wiser to just ignore whatever the strange and obviously powerful witches and wizard were doing.

Godric was meanwhile was making short work of the five men who had tried to fight him (he was a trained warrior and they in all honesty had no idea what they were really doing) but even his natural skill wasn't enough to mean he was guaranteed he would win as the bandits fought dirty; something Sal was convinced that Godric had no idea what that even meant, probably having a mud fight. The leader who had been face down in the dirt, grabbed at Godric's leg as he stepped back causing the knight to almost fall down.

This was probably the reason the Godric actually won the fight as quickly as he did, as he started going down he tried to save his sword (Sal rolled his eyes at that) so he twisted his body around, slipping his foot out of the disgruntle man's grip and swung his right arm/sword arm behind him and used his left arm to catch hold of a tree branch that was close by. He ended up using his sword to knock all the weapons out of his attackers' hands with his sword and then kicked them causing a domino effect as they crashed into each other, Godric regained his balanced and turned to face his adversaries only to find everyone on the ground – and Godric Gryffindor never attacked an opponent when they were down.

He stood back and waited for them to get up but Rowena stepped in and did a quick little flick with her 10 inch, roan, unicorn tail wand causing all the bandits to be tied up in one long rope then Sal (who had summoned all of their stuff while Godric was fighting) placed a pot that seemed to have a bluish tinge in the middle of them then Ro waved her wand again and the bandits found their hands stuck to the pot – in some way or another.

Godric frowned at Rowena "I was dealing with it" he moaned sounding like a child, Helga chuckled and said to him sounding very much like a mother patronizing her child "yes and you won dear – Ro and Sal are just cleaning up" Godric accepted that then turned to face Helga then he stopped and stared as he took a proper look at the captive he had just rescued.

She was a girl who looked barely older than sixteen, she wasn't what you would call beautiful but she was extremely pretty; she was slender and about average height with long gold, gold wavy hair, pale skin, a small slightly turned up nose and eyes the colour matching the forest surrounding them and there was an overall sweetness that just hung about her, she took a step forward and said in a warm voice "thank you for saving me – you were very brave".

Sal groaned "Oh Merlin" as he and Rowena joined them, the Ravenclaw Lady looked fairly amused "I've never seen Godric this quiet before" it was true Godric was staring at the girl ... and the girl was gazing right back at him. Helga beamed and said in a voice that made it seem like she was trying not to squeal with glee "that's Lord Salazar Slytherin, Lady Rowena Ravenclaw and _this_ is Sir Godric Gryffindor, Godric this is Aurora Thatcher."

"Umm ... uh ... er ..." stuttered Godric "your fame is almost as fair as your nace ... er I mean ..." the poor boy blushed at his mistake but Aurora giggled and Godric looked as though he had just heard angels sing. Sal repressed the urge to throw up – it would not do well for his image. Suddenly a scared voice cried out from the tied up bandits "'ere what's happening?" everyone turned to look at them just in time to see them disappear.

Aurora let out a small gasp as she jumped into Godric's arms (Helga beamed), Godric stared at Sal "where did you send them?" he asked slightly suspiciously Sal shrugged "just to the bottom of the lake where a mysterious monster resides" he said snidely, Godric let out a shocked yell "SAL!" "I'm kidding Godric, Rowena wouldn't let me – she sent them to the court."

Godric relaxed "good everyone deserves to be tried fairy" Sal rolled his eyes and Godric then realised that Aurora was still in his arms – causing him to blush and he stepped back. "Was that ... magic" asked Aurora trying to ignore her own pink cheeks, Godric nodded; staring speechless once again at her, she looked a bit in awe "wow, I didn't know that magic could do that"

Rowena looked surprised "well that's surprising; most people are under the false assumption that those with magic are able to do anything" Aurora nodded and asked shyly "so would anyone with magic be able to do something like that?" Rowena nodded "well with the proper training I suspect that yes anyone who had even the tiniest amount of what is considered to be 'magic' could, in theory, perform something to that extent."

Helga grinned and murmured to Aurora "she means yes" Godric (who was still gazing at the girl) finally managed to say a coherent sentence to her "are you magic?" she smiled shyly again and looked up at him "may I?" she asked and when he nodded mutely she softly placed her hand against his cheek where a bruise from the fight was forming, they both closed their eyes at the contact – though the others could tell that Aurora was doing so to concentrate. As they watched the bruise that had started to form disappeared after a few moments. Sal groaned as he watched the two barely adults gazed at other "alright time for niceness is over we have to be on the move so pleasure meeting you Miss Thatcher, Godric lets go."

Helga frowned at him but it was Godric who responded "Sal, we cannot just leave the lady alone in a forest, especially this close to evening!" Aurora glanced down "actually Sir Godric I live here barely even ten minutes away" the two of them seemed to sag but Sal tried to make another go at getting the group away, but Aurora spoke first "perhaps you would all" her eyes flickered briefly around the other three before being drawn back to Godric "like to come have dinner with my father and I – to thank you for saving me."

Helga stepped forward "we would be honoured lead the way my dear" Sal groaned again but he knew that he wasn't going to be allowed out of this. Godric and Aurora soon took the lead – even if they hadn't they probably would not have noticed the conversation that was revolving around them. Rowena murmured to her friend "Helga, are you playing matchmaker?" "If I was playing matchmaker I would have to actually do some work to convince them that they were in love, those two don't need any help" Sal glared at her "so instead we have to be witness Godric becoming more of an idiot?" Rowena rolled her eyes "Do you seriously believe in love at first sight Helga?"

The Hufflepuff Mother just smiled "you two are ridicules, Ro – love is irrational and illogical; you cannot try to explain or simplify it for you will fail. Sal – lie to yourself all you want, but I know you love as much as anyone else; you love your wife Selena, your son and I know you love us as well – Ro is your intellect competitor who you enjoy being with, I'm your little sister and Godric is a mixture between younger brother, oldest son and best friend."

Sal spluttered clearly in denial "that is absolutely and completely ... inconsiderate and incorrect of you to assume that I, Lord Salazar Slytherin, Master of the Art of Cheating and Power Corrupter have any feelings ... I only tolerate you to improve my own image" the ladies smirked to each other and Helga responded a little bit smugly "oh really Sal, then why do you continue to get into 'debates' with Ro? Why did you threaten to set as many poisonous snakes on Henry if he ever hurt me, when you first met him?" Sal glared at her – he hadn't meant for her to know that!

"And Godric ..." Sal interrupted her "Godric and I are completely opposites, I do NOT even like him; he is just far too ... good" he said the last word as though he couldn't understand it.

"And you love him for it"

"Helga; you two at least realise that there is bad in the world, even if Helga is a cup half-full kind of lady, but Godric he thinks everyone is good – and those who do activities that are unmoral are merely straying off the path and need help! He just ... does not get that I am not good."

"You are not bad though Salazar"

"Rowena ..."

"No Salazar, we are not having this argument, because as much as I am loath to admit It, I fear that only Godric is stubborn enough to convince you of another opinion – and at the moment he is most definitely far too distracted" she pointed ahead of them and the others saw her point. Godric and Aurora had arrived a few minutes before them at the small wooden log house, and he had obviously lost his inability to converse.

He saw the other three heading towards them and sprinted the last couple of feet between them talking excitedly as he did. "Guys, guess what! Aurora's Dad – he's Migale the Map-Maker; he served with Sir Alex about twenty years ago! It's incredible and he's a mapmaker! He probably knows a perfect spot for our school – what are you three waiting for come on!"

They joined the Thatchers' for dinner, Godric switched between animatedly telling stories about Sal, Ro and Helga's experience at teaching him (much to Sal's chagrin) and firing questions to Migale about his surrogate father Sir Alex (Migale had promised to show them a map of a place he thought might be of use to the four) but he spent all his time obviously adoring Aurora.

When they had finished their food Godric helped Aurora clean the plates up, something Helga would have usually done – but she was enjoying watching their so-in-love-but-not-doing-anything actions. After putting the plates away Godric pulled Aurora into a dance around the living-room; showing what moves Sal had taught him when he learned that Godric was to attend court. Migale sighed as he watched them "Am I going to have to worry about him hurting her?" Sal snorted "trust me Mr Thatcher – the only 'bad' thing that Godric Gryffindor will do to your daughter is over-protect her" the father sighed "I was afraid of that".

Meanwhile the two had stopped dancing and were laughing together, Godric glanced around the lounge – it was warm and full of old maps and scrolls and paintings, one particular painting caught Godric's attention it was of a young woman who looked very similar to Aurora only her hair was brown as a tree barks' compared to Aurora's golden hue.

"That was my mother – Elizabeth, she died when I was eight years old" Godric turned to look back at Aurora "I'm sorry" she smiled sadly "it is ok – I believe that she is out there watching over me, and I always feel lucky to have known her" Godric nodded, his face unusually serious "you're very smart – most people don't realise how lucky they are to have parents" Aurora gazed at him "what do you mean?" he shrugged "My parents died when I was barely two years old."

**AN –** Thank you for reading this chapter – sorry for all the sap, I promise most chapters are not like this. Next chapter – my version of Godric's back story and they get an idea as to where they could go to create a school. HAPPY NEW YEAR AND GOOD LUCK FOR 2012!


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's note: hey, so ... I will be writing one chapter of this story and two of my other one on Fanfiction as that is longer than this one will be (I think), if you are reading then – thank you, sorry for any grammar/spelling mistakes (will try to avoid them) and please enjoy. _

**_Warning –_**_ I should probably warn all readers that this chapter has some ... horrible and perhaps sickening ideas in it, I realised as I was writing that it may not be suitable for younger readers, though I do not go into any gory details; you should still be warned._

**Anyway, I do not own Harry Potter or anything to do with it. Well I do own all the characters that you don't recognise, but they belong to the Harry Potter world so they don't really count.**

_This is a story of the Four Founders – a tale which talks of their decisions and the reasons behind them. This is the story of Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Godric Gryffindor._

Chapter Six – Godric's Tale.

_ "That was my mother – Elizabeth, she died when I was eight years old" Godric turned to look back at Aurora "I'm sorry" she smiled sadly "it is ok – I believe that she is out there watching over me, and I always feel lucky to have known her" Godric nodded, his face unusually serious "you're very smart – most people don't realise how lucky they are to have parents" Aurora gazed at him "what do you mean?" he shrugged "My parents died when I was barely two years old."_

**"**I was born in a small village right by the sea, it was apparently a village of warriors - about ten years before I was born one of the 'warriors' named John Asesino was banished from the vicinity; apparently because he murdered his wife and new-born son – the reason being that his son had an extra finger and thus was considered an abnormal freak in his father's eyes.

According to everything I have discovered my village was one where people were supposed to be of use to the village as a whole – but it was common belief that anyone no matter what they looked like, could be of use, and Asesino's act was one that shocked all the other members (understandably) and he was to be sentence to death, but he escaped – I don't know how but afterwards he seemed to just disappear from the face of the earth, though many warriors searched for him they could not find him and eventually everyone just put him to the back of their minds, and moved on with their lives.

Only Asesino didn't, he wanted revenge on those who were ... less perfect than himself and those who had 'turned' against him. He spent twelve years in hiding, training, gathering an army ... of people swayed by his words and ideas. And when he felt the time was right, after twelve years and he thought that his army was strong enough, strongest in the entire world ... he attacked the village.

It was a furious terrible battle ... no-one that was in the village when they attacked, no-one survived, but neither did any of Asesino's men; somehow a fire was started and whether because of the fighting between two super strong armies or the blaze ... everyone died; all the villagers, Asesino, Asesino's men and ... even the animals ... all of them dead ... before the sun had even risen.**"**

"But you escaped"

**"**My dad's sister Emileena had been taking care of me for the day and we had gone out into a forest to – collect mushrooms for dinner I think, when ... we saw smoke rising from the village ... and she, she took me away, far, far away from the village – well to a two year olds mind at least, and we came to a farmhouse, and the family that lived there took us in and helped us ... for three years we stayed there – my aunt helping out around the place and she always told me stories about my family – though I remember being quite mad at her for never allowing me to go and find them, I didn't understand what 'dead' meant.

Until when I was five and the plague struck the farmhouse - there were ten people living in that home; including myself and my aunt, the farmer (I think his name might have been Richard), his wife Lucy, their four children (all older than me but fun to play with) and two members of the hired help who stayed with them, an oldish lady and her nephew who so had a thing going on with Miranda the eldest daughter.

I was the only one to survive the plague, they did try to go find help ... but help was too far away and – soon one by one all of them caught it and nothing I did or tried caused any difference. I was five years old! What did I know of looking after sick people, or even what to do with dead bodies! For a week I wondered around the empty farmhouse by myself with nine dead corpses lying in the top half of the house ... and then, I don't know who but some people came when I was out trying to milk the cow, and they must have realised that the plague had been there ... so they, they set fire to the house.

For some reason of ... purifying the place or something like that, those people didn't see me and I didn't see them until it was too late and I was on the wrong side of the fence to actually get to them anyway. So I then stumbled across the country side, I don't know how long for, or if I was searching for anything ... I just kept going – finding food where I could and sleeping where ever I dropped. I think I may have had some childish vague idea that I was looking for the king so that I could learn to be a knight, because that was what I always wanted to be – ever since a knight had been given a room at the farmhouse for the night when he was travelling on a quest ... he was the most amazing and generous person I had ever seen.

I didn't find the king, but someone who had once been a part of the king's court did find me – I was sleeping in a ditch and a wheel of his carriage must have been slightly broken so they stopped, right besides where I was sleeping. This guy (his name always has been one that I can never pronounce) ... well he decided to help me out, he took me to his house and had me feed and clothed and in a real bed, and when he saw that the horses seemed to like and respond well to me – he put me to woke in the stables, until a lord came and bought me.

And thus, for the next five years, was my life. I never stayed in one place for very long – my longest was two years, my shortest was a day. Sometimes it was people would 'buy' me or I would be gifted to someone higher up, or was considered part of a will, but usually it was because I got into a lot of trouble and the head of the house-hold servants couldn't stand me – it wasn't my fault, trouble just finds me!

Well okay maybe ... heaps of the time it was because maybe I might have ... possibly pulled a few ... some ... lots of pranks on the head servants or the people I worked for – but they were all harmless and nobody ever got hurt from them! And not all trouble was my fault there are definitely five times when it wasn't my fault in anyway ... and two of those times it wasn't because of accidental and unknown (to me) magic, so it could not have been my fault at all ... I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time – truly!

You know you have a really beautiful laugh**"**

"Oh ... thank you ... umm. So what happened when you were ten?"

**"**I met those guys, I was working for Sal's Dad and he was hosting some big ball thing in which those three all attended and by some luck they all went out into the grounds around the same time and then got captured by bandits – actually the same that were harassing you. I may have tried to do the same thing that I did today**"**

"Jump into the fray without thinking?"

**"**Hey it worked didn't it? Anyway I apparently used some powerful magic to push them away leaving me with Sal, Ro and Helga and ... they in turn saved me, tricked Lord Slytherin into handing me over to them and I got to be apprenticed to Sir Alexander de Ardent-Coeur, and he trained me to be a knight and they taught me how to control and use my magic – and now we're going to find a place to make a school so that other people can have the same opportunity that I had to control their magic**"**

Aurora smiled at Godric, his story was quite heart-wrenching and as he had talked his blue eyes had been fixated on her mother's painting, but the pain and loss on his face showed he was remembering a time long gone by – but he somehow managed to be ... the person he was (Aurora deliberately avoided thinking about what kind of man he was) and his goal well ... "That's amazing" she tried hard to ignore how her heartbeat seemed to decide it was in a race at the exact same time as he smiled at her, and listened to his words.

**"**You know it's thanks to Sir Alex that I know anything about my family, when I was twelve we went to where the village was – it's now an old ruin, half covered by sand and sea, but there is a cemetery with everyone from the village – apparently Sir Alex and a group of his men had come across the smouldering village of practically ashes the morning after – it - had happened. They buried everyone, because of respect and sadness for all the life lost.

All except for the body of Asesino – he had apparently run into the army and caused a lot of trouble in the previous ten years, and he was one of the people not fully burned, apparently he still had half his face. They knew he was most likely the one behind the village massacre due to the fact that he had a mark on his arm – which stated he had been supposed to be sentence to death in that village, and one of the guards had seen it before the day ... they found them dead. Someone examined him – and it turns out he had a disease in his brain, I don't know what but it's the reason he believed that others were evil ...**"**

"Hold on – are you defending him?" Aurora stared at him, did he realise he was talking about the man who had killed his parents, his village, his family - "No, I'm not excusing what he did – it was monstrous yes, but he can't be blamed for having a ... perception problem" A perception problem! She shook her head incredulously and also slightly impressed by the young knight in front of her "Lord Slytherin was right – you really don't believe that there is any evil in the world"

"I'm a knight; it is my duty to destroy all that is evil, but would doing so make me any better than Asesino – I mean he caused problems because he believed that deformity was ... not good, one person's view on what is evil does not necessary make it evil in reality, I don't want to be like him and believe that I'm better than everyone else or that others are evil and should be destroyed. Everything and everyone has to have some goodness in it – because otherwise I have to kill it or them ... and that would make me evil, and I don't want to be what I would have to destroy, I don't want to be a murderer." "You are so innocent, so incredible."

Sal quickly stepped back from the doorway where he and the others had been listening in (having been going to enter the room with Godric and Aurora about halfway through his story when Helga had stopped them so that the two of them could have some 'private time') "Quick Thatcher – get your maps and lets study them before the room turns into a mushy-feast-of-lovey-dovey ... stuff" Helga pouted at Sal but Ro nodded in agreement, she really didn't want to witness a fluffy romantic scene between the two lovebirds any more than Sal did - though she was far less likely to be tempted to throw up because of the sweetness of it all.

AN – yeah I think I'll stop this one here for now, hope you liked my version of Godric past ... thank you for reading and sorry for any mistakes ... A huge thanks if you like this story and if you have reviewed then I'm sorry I can't respond but my computer won' let me unless I go a very long way and I don't have the patience to do but I do want you to know that I am grateful J

Finished 5-2-2012


	7. Chapter 7

_Author's note: You know it is a lot harder to be motivated to write your own story than a 'reading-the-books' story, I have it all up in my head it's just getting it written is the problem – but I am managing and I am determined that I shall prevail! _

**Anyway, I do not own Harry Potter or anything to do with it. Well I do own all the characters that you don't recognise, but they belong to the Harry Potter world so they don't really count.**

_This is a story of the Four Founders – a tale which talks of their decisions and the reasons behind them. This is the story of Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Godric Gryffindor._

Chapter Seven – The Centaurs.

_Sal quickly stepped back from the doorway where he and the others had been listening in (having been going to enter the room with Godric and Aurora about halfway through his story when Helga had stopped them so that the two of them could have some 'private time') "Quick Thatcher – get your maps and lets study them before the room turns into a mushy-feast-of-lovey-dovey ... stuff" Helga pouted at Sal but Ro nodded in agreement, she really didn't want to witness a fluffy romantic scene between the two lovebirds any more than Sal did - though she was far less likely to be tempted to throw up because of the sweetness of it all._

When they had all gathered in the lounge Migale spread a map out so all could see it "Well from you have told me, I think that the most suitable place for this school of yours would be here – in the north of Scotland; this old castle, not yet a ruin but has been abandoned for many years as is the land that belongs to the castle – legend has it that this castle belonged to King Arthur himself"

"That muggle boy that Merlin helped become ... big in the Muggle world" asked Salazar – who although was skilled at rattling off/knowing all the history of most noble wizarding families, was slightly at a loss when it came to the muggles' history. Not to Sal's surprise, it was Godric who answered (anything to do with muggle kings, weaponry and knights and Godric would know the answer – for everything else ask Rowena) "big in the Muggle world Sal? King Arthur was the greatest king ever! He and his sword Excalibur lead the world out of the dark ages and ..." Sal held up his hand "I don't need to know Godric"

"But ..." Helga intervened "Godric we are trying to find a place for a school ... which was your idea, remember?" said boy closed his mouth and deflated slightly but he did seem extremely eager to hear what Migale had to say about the land and castle he had suggested. "The lands that belong to the castle include a young forest, a lake which most likely is from when this part of the land used to be a peninsula and right on the very edge of the sea, and there is even the remains of an old village located ... about ten minutes away from where the castle is situated."

"So who owns all this now days" enquired Rowena cautiously, Migale smiled "as far as I am aware these lands all belong to the nearest land owner which is, I believe ... an old farmer" Rowena and Sal noted that Migale seemed hesitant about telling them about this farmer, Godric who knew next to nothing about subtly, didn't pick up on the hesitancy and ploughed on excitedly "Well what's his name?"

"Brian ... de Ardent-Coeur" Both Migale and Aurora looked worriedly at Godric who appeared to have frozen in a position with his mouth almost on the ground, that was why he had been hesitant about saying the name. "Isn't Brian the name of Sir Alex's father?" said Helga (who didn't seem too worried over Godric's dramatics) Rowena nodded and Sal groaned "you mean to tell me that we have been on this crazy ... horrid thing and all this time Godric's mentor, who we see quite frequently - had the answer!"

"Isn't that great!" exclaimed Godric coming out of his shock, Sal stared at him in shock "how ... is it ... great?" Godric grinned at him "Well we got to go on this awesome quest! And anyway maybe he didn't know and WE GET TO MEET HIM I heard a lot stories about Sir Alex's Dad and this could be the perfect spot and ..." Helga placed her hand over Godric's mouth "Sweetie Breathe" she leant in and whispered something to him that caused the knight to go bright red and stare at Aurora (again) and Helga sat back with a smug smile.

Rowena rolled her eyes at her best friend and turned back to Migale, who was watching Godric warily, "so Mr Thatcher, how do we get to this castle?" Sal frowned at her "we apparate there Rowena" she shook her head "we do not know the name of this castle, and if it used to belong to King Arthur ... and Merlin would have placed protective charms around the land, which would explain why no one has claimed it thus far, and as you of all people should know, Salazar, we cannot apparate to places that are protected." She smirked a very smug smile as Sal scowled at her as he tried to come up with a way to beat her at what she did best.

Migale glanced between them, but during dinner this had been happening often enough for him to be used to Sal and Ro's ... behaviour. "To answer your question Lady Ravenclaw – I would suggest this path here it goes through some wooded areas, around a couple of lands belonging to lords and it goes right onto the land where this castle resides, now I don't know anything about magic so I don't know how far this 'boundary' will go, but if you go this way you should get there unharmed."

They continued to make plans and discuss which route would be quickest (Sal) with the most beautiful scenery (Helga) and the safest (Rowena) eventually they came to what they considered the best option, and it was only then that they realised there had been no demand for a dangerous or challenging path from Godric, the reason they discovered was that sometime after learning of the perfect location, he and Aurora had slipped away and were found sleeping side by side on the grass just outside of the house – apparently they had been talking and stargazing and had fallen asleep after a little while.

SSRRHHGG

The next morning they were ready to go, and it was just Godric who was left to thank and say goodbye. The other three stood a little way back, Sal was tapping his fingers impatiently as Helga joined them "can we please hurry up I want to get this stupid thing over and done with" Helga laughed "oh please Sal, you couldn't have had more fun on this quest." "That's not true! Why do you say that?" exclaimed the Lord, Rowena rolled her eyes at him "she means that you complain about the things you like, if you don't like something you just set a snake on it" Sal glared at them where did either of those ladies get off analysing him? Huffing he turned to watch as Godric shook Migale's hand respectfully.

"Sir, with your permission ... I would like to return, after we have made our school ... and umm converse more with you and your daughter" as Godric had nervously stumbled through his question his gaze had shifted to Aurora who blushed under his warm stare. Migale sighed, he could see it would be no use to refuse, the boy might respect his wishes but he knew his daughter would not stand for that. "We would be honoured if you would visit again" Godric's childlike beam, almost made Migale want to like the knight.

Godric then stepped closer to Aurora and opened his mouth but no sound came out – he was obviously having trouble trying to find the perfect goodbye, Sal sighed "I think we will have to grab Godric and apparate with him" Helga pouted but Rowena nodded "he's right Helga – if we don't we may never leave" Helga sighed but nodded in defeat; knowing that they were correct in what they said. Aurora smiled at Godric's attempts to say goodbye and took a step closer to him, ignoring her own shyly red cheeks.

"Thank you ... Sir Gryffindor – it has been a real pleasure meeting you"

"One ... Two ..."

And plucking up all her courage she leant in and gave a quick kiss on Godric's lips.

"Three!" two pairs of arms grabbed Godric and spun him around, causing him to be apparated side-along with Sal and Rowena, they appeared in an enclosed valley with a few trees around, they stepped away from Godric who was standing still with a dazed expression on his face "did ... that just ... did she?" Helga nodded also smiling and she burst out laughing when he started jumping around the glade shouting "YES! YES! YES! YES!" looking for all the world like a ten year old that had just gotten the best present ever, and even Sla cracked a smile at how over-the-moon-happy the young man was (although Sal would deny it forever afterwards).

The next few days passed quickly, and quietly ... well Godric was too love-struck to go searching for anything dangerous or challenging, and for the other three trouble (for once) seemed to be content to leave him alone. They should have known afterwards that it was too good to be true.

Three days after they had left Aurora and Migale, the four friends were once again camping in a forest – though a forest that was relatively lacking in trees – compared to the other forests they wandered through at least. This time however it was the middle of the day and they had actually managed to finish eating their food and were just packing when the trouble started. Rowena and Sal were in the middle of a debate about 'if a tree fell in a forest and no-one was around – would it still make a sound; Rowena was stating that 'logically it had to make a sound even if no-one could hear it', while Sal was adamant about 'if no-one is there how can one prove that a sound was made. Helga just thought that they were going round in a circle.

As such, in the midst of all the chaos that followed in the back of her mind she found it ironic that Ro and Sal had been going in a mental circle then they found themselves right in the middle ... of a much bigger circle. Godric was training in a small secluded spot just out of sight from the others and therefore knew nothing of his friends' kidnapping, which although the others disagreed with at the time, did turn out for the better.

Godric critically examined his sword and decided that it was sharp enough and clean enough to pass inspection (truth was if he shinned it anymore it would have been brighter than the sun, and if it were any sharper then he would manage to cut himself by just looking at it – but his weapons were the one thing he never over-exaggerated when thinking or talking about them), he sheathed his sword and headed back to the camp.

The first thing he noticed was that there was no one at their camp, as none of the others were pranksters in anyway (Godric had managed to pull one over all of them ... many times over) he knew that they weren't just hiding or being invisible, the second thing he noticed was the flatten grass surrounding the camp, in fact the grass looked as though about twenty-five large horses had been standing there. There was then a wide path of flattened grass and plants heading in the opposite direction from where Godric had just come from.

As soon as he seen all this, Godric immediately unsheathed his sword and sprinted off following the tracks, which due to their nature were thankfully easy to do so. After about ten minutes the tracks lead him through a thicker patch of trees and pushing back a branch Godric couldn't help but stop and stare in shock at the scene before his eyes; his friends were tied up to individual trees, and their captors ... they were not, as Godric had originally and logically thought, the cavalry, nor were they his more creative thought of wild horses that really wanted to learn how to be wizards and witches ... no they were centaurs.

The reason Godric was momentarily stunned at the sight of them was that while he knew many legends about centaurs he had never before seen one, and he was quite awed by the solemn half man, half horse beings. Godric blinked and realised that he was still hidden and none of the thirty centaurs that Godric could see had seen him yet, now anyone else would have stuck around and freed their friends, but Godric Gryffindor always faced challenges head on and sneaking around never entered into his mind.

Instead he burst through the trees shouting "LET THEM GO!" at the top of his voice, and found himself with thirty arrows pointed right at his chest Godric raised his sword held up his shield with his lion crest on it. One of the centaurs, almost black in colour stepped forward and glared at the knight "Human" Godric bit his tongue to prevent himself from going "Wow you have a deep voice!" which was his natural childish response and he needed to concentrate on what was happening.

"You are foolish Human to come for the others, and now you will die with them" Godric glared at him, but even though it went again his instincts, Sir Alex had drilled into him the knowledge and ability to deal with situations where he had no advantage – and he had learned enough of the legends to know some of the centaur way of thinking and he hoped it would help him "they're my herd – of course I came for them!"

That seemed to surprise the centaurs, but the one who had spoken snorted "you are too emotional Human – while your actions may be commendable, but will not save you ... or them, Human" Godric narrowed his eyes "I can't believe you! Centaurs are not killers!" Godric had to admit that it was slightly strange and unnerving for him, for once, to have to look up to his adversary rather than down.

"It is true, human, that our kind does not normally partake in the act of taking one's life, but does that require our kind to accept the destruction your kind causes to our home, destruction that will be the genocide of our species!" Godric felt all his anger ebbing away and lowered his sword and shield as an idea started to take hold of his brain "you guys are doing this for revenge on muggles – who do not realise you actually exist – for chopping down trees? And you said I was too emotional"

All the centaurs snarled and stomped their hooves – obviously not appreciating Godric's teasing, the young knight sheathed his sword and held up his hands "wow, sorry. But you really don't need to kill anyone – we can help you" out of the corner of his eye he noted that he was receiving three very incredulous looks, but he ignored them – he was certain that his plan would work.

The centaur he had been conversing with looked like he was tempted to not let Godric speak, but a younger looking chestnut coloured centaur stepped forward "Thorn, do you remember what the planets informed us of two nights ago?" something seemed to pass around the circle of centaurs, but Godric didn't it understand nor did he try to – he was too busy attempting to be patient while he waited for their consent to explain his idea.

"Alright Human – how would you help us?" Godric grinned "well we four are magical and we're going to make a school for ... foals to come and learn how to control their powers, and the place we're going to, apparently has a great big forest – you guys could have it!

And because it'll be a magical school we'll be able to make boundaries that will keep muggles away and to make the forest survive and we could fill it with all sort of other creatures that muggles don't believe in but it could primarily belong to you so you can have your own home, I mean as long as you lot promise not kill anyone and you let us go so we can get everything organised then THIS COULD BE ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!"

He beamed at them as he finished revealing his grand plan, but when everyone (Sal, Ro and Helga included) just stared at him blankly and he realised that maybe he should have breathed, explained calmly and perhaps not have been so excited, but it was a good plan ... right? The known as Thorn finally broke the silence "we will discuss this Human wait here" the centaurs turned the circle away from the humans and Godric was left alone ... he was bored in five seconds so decided to try the technique Helga had suggested for whenever he was bored – he thought of Aurora.

The centaurs came out of their huddle and a few were bemused when they found Godric waltzing by himself with a very sappy smile on his face, Thorn gave a deep throaty cough causing Godric to blush bright red and trip up on a root, but he beamed as he scrambled up from the ground "well!" Thorn raised an eye-brow at him and in the conversation that followed Helga found it weird that Thorn would speak in such a grave solemn voice, and Godric would answer with such happiness – it was like listening to night and day.

"Why would you do this, Human?"

"So you can have a home and we can live."

"And how can we trust you to do as you say?"

"Fair question, alright then - I promise we'll give you protected land of your own in a forest and it will be big."

"The word of a human is not one we can easily trust."

"Why not? If you make a promise you have to keep it – that's the rule."

Thorn gazed at Godric's earnest expression for a long while then nodded "alright human we shall put our trust in you and make this bargain you propose – we shall not take the life of any human and you and your herd will go free, in exchange for this land" he held out his hand out and Godric eagerly shook it. As they shook hands Thorn spoke again "you should know the only reason we have chosen to trust you is because you are but a foal, to your kind you may be physically considered a man, but your behaviour is such that is the same as a young foal ... and we do not harm the young."

Godric grinned "if I'm considered young does that mean I can get away with doing this?" and with that he hugged Thorn around the middle, the centaur gazed down at him with something akin to a mixture of fear, disgust and confusion he glanced around "why is this human grabbing my torso" Helga who had finally managed to get the material in her mouth out of it shrugged at him.

"Sorry, he's a hugger."

AN – yeah I think I'll stop here, this is my reason for why the centaurs of Hogwarts consider the forest as 'theirs' and also why they didn't actually kill Umbridge for her insult to them. I hope it makes sense. 

Finished 20-2-2012


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's note: This chapter is very short but I think it works. _

**Anyway, I do not own Harry Potter or anything to do with it. Well I do own all the characters that you don't recognise, but they belong to the Harry Potter world so they don't really count.**

_This is a story of the Four Founders – a tale which talks of their decisions and the reasons behind them. This is the story of Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Godric Gryffindor._

Chapter Eight – The Beginning. 

_Godric grinned "if I'm considered young does that mean I can get away with doing this?" and with that he hugged Thorn around the middle, the centaur gazed down at him with something akin to a mixture of fear, disgust and confusion he glanced around "why is this human grabbing my torso" Helga who had finally managed to get the material in her mouth out of it shrugged at him._

"_Sorry, he's a hugger."_

Once the agreements and arrangements had been made (and Godric had let Thorn go) the four were free to be on their way. Because the centaurs didn't hold time-frames by the same stock as humans ("it is a foolish human thing created to pretend they have more control") they had not wanted to put a time-frame on when they would get their land but Godric had been adamant about the fact that he was planning on returning within a time-frame of six months – whether he had succeeded in his mission or not.

The others were all mostly happy with the plan – not the least because it saved their lives. Rowena was interested to learn more about the centaurs and their culture and living in a close(ish) environment would give her opportunities to ask, Helga was pleased with Godric for wanting to give the centaurs a home and Sal, well sure he complained about Godric promising their land away ... but as Rowena pointed out Sal was only happy if he had something to complain about – so the others didn't pay him too much attention.

The next few days of travelling were relatively calm – Godric seemed to have regained his 'attracting trouble' magnet which meant there were a few incidents along the way (involving things such as doxys, imps, Godric challenging a Whomping Willow to a fight and also attempting to win a staring contest with a rock.) but these incidences were fairly minor and didn't really cut down their travelling time.

It was actually Rowena who saw it first; for the last five years she had been studying the art becoming an Animagus and finally she was convinced that she would be able to pull the transformation off. Godric and Helga both thought she would have been ready a year beforehand, but Rowena had wanted to be one- hundred percent certain before she tried for real.

The day she decided to try for real was a beautiful warm day; the four friends were currently camping at the bottom of a hill, a day earlier they had all felt themselves pass through a magic boundary which told them they were very close to their goal. They were all excited about seeing Rowena becoming an Animagus and were curious to see what animal she would be, even Sal who was pretending to be bored and pessimistic about everything couldn't hide that he was interested to see how it would turn out.

Ro stood and faced her friends, ignoring the nervous butterflies in her stomach and began the change.

They watched in wonderment as Rowena Ravenclaw shrank in size and her waist length hair turned feathery, her hands disappeared and her feet curved downwards and her eyes seemed to grow in size as their position from the front of her face changed to the sides of her head, until finally where she had stood momentarily now hovered "An Eagle Ro! Your and Eagle!" exclaimed Godric in excitement.

"A White-tailed Eagle, specifically" drawled Salazar – trying to sound bored.

The eagle let out a cry – of possibly joy, and took off flying, "and she said she didn't like the idea of flying" joked Godric before he ran after her, "Godric!" cried Helga but he was already off – following the flying Lady Ravenclaw, Helga sighed in fond exasperation "we better pack up and follow them" she said to Sal's scowl.

Rowena flew higher and higher, relishing the freedom the feelings of flight brought – though she was sure that if she were in human form she would hate to be up this high. She looked down and although she was thousands of meters above the ground she could see every detail clearly – and there slightly behind her running along the ground and shinning bright than the sun was Godric, she chuckled inwardly – of course he would run after her, she turned back to the sky to keep going ... and then she saw it.

The hill they were camping at the bottom of, was actually the other side of a cliff and the view from the top – which would have been spectacular to a human was ten times that to Rowena at that moment, it was a valley surrounded by mountains on one side and the ocean on the other.

There was a great forest just beneath the cliff that stretched for miles around – perfect for the centaurs, as long as they didn't mind the odd wild animal, such as the hogs she could see scrounging in the ground. Rowena could see that there was a forest stream that winded its way through the trees until it opened out to an enclosed lake that had a small stream coming out of the other side and flowing straight into the sea.

Right in the very middle of this picturesque view was a castle – the castle they had come to find, right on the edge of the forest and the lake ... and there the ruins of a village and beyond that farmlands, Ro could see a single rundown farmhouse, probably the one they would have to visit to see Brian. And after that the land just stretched on until eventually not even Rowena's eagle eyes could see ... it was beautiful.

Rowena didn't realise she had been coming down to earth until she found herself almost directly besides Godric who had just appeared on the top of the cliff, quickly she transformed back into her human form and landed gracefully beside the knight who was gazing at the view "what do you think – perfect of yours?" it was a tribute to the view that Godric only nodded; usually he would argue that it wasn't his school but theirs.

"It's beautiful."

They turned to face Helga and Sal who had just joined them, Sal stayed back from the edge but Helga came up and stood with the other three and murmured to Rowena "by the way Ro, congratulations on becoming an Animagus" "thank you" replied Rowena and was about to explain her thoughts on it, when Sal interrupted them "Are we just going to stand and stare or are we actually to get down there and do something?"

Of course then they wasted no time in getting down, Helga and Sal went down by the safest route, Godric took the route that was a bit more ... dangerous and Ro showed off – slightly by just flying down.

When in the forest Helga had the idea to make an enchanted path to walk on; so they didn't have be pushing through the trees but also in case in the future they needed to go back the way they came (such as when Godric went to get the centaurs) and could do so safely.

Ro and Sal ended up doing most of the magic to make the path, as Helga placed the protective charms behind them and Godric (taking his Knightly duty of protection very seriously) lead the way, finding the safest and most suitable route and leaving a rough draft behind him.

This happened for a while until they suddenly found themselves at the edge the forest and blinked at the daylight and the sight of the castle looming over them. They were standing in what most likely used to be the old courtyard entry way – there was even a small house, probably the old gatekeeper's home, but over the years grass and trees and grown so that now it looked more like a wild garden than a courtyard.

"So does this mean we're at the end of our journey?" asked Sal – for once not sounding sarcastic or like he was complaining, Godric shook his head, his eyes shining brightly "No Sal; we're just at the beginning" he grinned at the others "as long as we're together – this quest promises to be a fun one."

AN – Short yes, but hey – and I hope that you enjoyed it and thank you for reading 

Finished 25-2-2012


	9. Chapter 9

_Author's note: We are almost are almost at the end of the 'before-the-school' section of this story! _

**Anyway, I do not own Harry Potter or anything to do with it. Well I do own all the characters that you don't recognise, but they belong to the Harry Potter world so they don't really count.**

_This is a story of the Four Founders – a tale which talks of their decisions and the reasons behind them. This is the story of Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Godric Gryffindor._

Chapter Nine – Intelligently Logical. 

"_So does this mean we're at the end of our journey?" asked Sal – for once not sounding sarcastic or like he was complaining, Godric shook his head, his eyes shining brightly "No Sal; we're just at the beginning" he grinned at the others "as long as we're together – this quest promises to be a fun one."_

Things seemed to move quite quickly after that; their first order of business had been to explore the castle, and Godric's enthusiasm seemed to be catching because soon all of them (though Sal was trying not to show it) were feeling excitement begin to boil up inside of them.

The interior of the castle actually appeared to be more of a ruin than the outside suggested – a couple of the staircases just weren't there and the whole roof was gone from what they were sure would have been the throne room, but despite any problems they all knew that it was the perfect spot for their school.

Rowena took notes on everything they examined, Sal found that the Dungeons were warm, dry and in his colour, Helga was pleased to see that even though parts were in ruins – the castle as a whole was, and definitely would be, safe for children to reside in and Godric just had a ball discovering all the nooks and crannies of an old 'King Arthur and Knights of the Round Table' place.

The exploration that the four of them did – though definitely did not cover the whole castle, took them until the end of the day and as such they decided to sleep in castle (Godric suggested it for the adventure) so they set up camp in the 'throne room' – only because they couldn't agree on any other rooms to sleep in, but they were lucky that it was a beautiful and warm night anyway.

Godric smiled up at the stars – this was something that always calmed him down and helped him fall asleep; had been the case for as long as he could remember and he hoped that he would be able to convince Ro to find a spell that would let them see into the sky – even with a roof, with that thought in his mind the young knight drifted into a sleep where he dreamed of dancing up in the stars themselves with a certain golden-haired girl.

SSRRHHGG

It was two days after exploring the castle that they finally made to Brian de Ardent-Coeur's farmhouse, Sal wrinkled his nose at the run-down look, Helga cooed that it seemed so sad – thinking it probably used to be busy and full of family, Ro wondered about the history of the land and building and Godric stared at the home of the man who was by all rights – his surrogate grandfather; taking a breath and steeling his courage he took the lead and walked up to the crooked door and knocked.

The man who answered the door was old – even by wizard standards – he had a short snow white beard, calloused hands and was leaning on a tall stick – which both Sal; and Ro took convert interested glances at. "Can I help you?" he asked in a voice that could only be described as earthy, "Sir ... Mr ... Ardent-Coeur – this is Rowena Ravenclaw, Salazar Slytherin and Helga Hufflepuff ... and I am Sir Godric Gryffindor ..." you could hear the restrained excitement with slight nerves as Godric introduce them.

Brian interrupted Godric after he said his name "I know of you – My son has told me all about you" Godric seemed to radiant with joy at hearing that his mentor spoke of him "He talks about me?"

"Well writes - we do stay in contact after all. I suppose I should invite you in – not very polite to loiter in doorways anyway – come on then." Helga giggled and murmured to Sal as they walked in "I like him" he rolled his eyes but kept his mouth shut due to his 'lordly manners'.

They found themselves in a cosy kitchen just as Brian muttered "what we need is a cuppa tea" he banged his walking stick and the four friends were (at different levels) shocked to feel a wave of magic pulse out from the bottom and a fire was lit beneath the kettle. Rowena was ecstatic "You have a staff, this is incredible – I haven't actually met someone who uses a staff, they are really rare – these days, and ..."

"Yeah and much more practical for an old foggie like me" chuckled the old man as he took a seat on one of the table, Godric immediately sat opposite him, Helga smirked at Ro's indignant expression as they both took a seat, Ro right beside Godric and Helga at the end of the table. Sal remained standing at the other end ... until 'WHACK!' Brian had hit him over the head with his staff.

"Sit down lad – it's rude to stand when you host has taken a seat." Grumbling and rubbing his head Sal complied and Godric muttered in awe "So that's where Sir Alex got it from." Helga and Ro laughed good-naturedly at Sal's pouting. "Now – aren't you lot supposed to be on some sort of Quest?" Godric nodded – slightly sheepishly, "that's actually why we're here" the old wizard looked confused "how can I be of help?" Rowena smiled – this was her area of expertise, she leaned forward to begin her explanation.

Helga got comfortable in her seat – she knew that when Ro got going, she really got going, and she had been planning this for the past week or so; so Helga knew they would be there for a little while, but it was always impressive to watch her best friend regale her knowledge.

"As you have obviously heard we are on a 'mission' to find a suitable location for a school of magic – as of yet unnamed, and after extensive searching we believe that we have found a spot that would work. About two days walking time from here there is a castle."

"Yeah I know the place."

"Oh good – well due to various reasons – location (large available forest, beautiful lake, grounds not too wild or problematic), size, stability, amount of rooms, sense of history etcetera, etcetera – the castle is perfectly suitable for our purpose; if we fix it up and add a few enhancements – such as protective charms, stairs and enough other requirements to make it safe for students. The only issue is the matter of own it legally.

In the muggle world it shouldn't be a problem because, as you may or may not know the castle and the lands surrounding it all belonged to King Arthur, and are therefore property of the muggle king now – and Godric happens have his favour and as well as that, as part of his knighthood, and because he doesn't already own land, Godric is allowed to choose for himself his own lands – as long as he doesn't force them away from anyone – or choose a whole country to own.

However there is a technicality and also the wizarding world to deal with. You see while at this time the king, or ruler of the United Kingdom, still has a great deal of power and control over the world – muggle and wizarding, but the is a very strong possibility that in the future (whether in our life time or otherwise) in which it won't be the case – in the muggle world the advices and members of ..."

"Parliament?"

"Yes thank you Helga, will probably become more favourable to 'actually' make the decisions, and in the wizarding world there is an even more certain probability that wizarding kind will one day break-away from the muggle world and have our own ruler/s, if this is the case we do not want to give ... boat-rockers, the opportunity to stir up trouble for us by claiming that as we only got the land from a muggle – we do not actually own the land, which honestly could cause chaos that we are determined to avoid."

Brian nodded, understanding well enough what she was saying, but he still looked confused "so what has all this got to do with me? I'm just a simple farmer."

"Well it has more to do with the technicality that I mentioned earlier. You see after we learned of this castle from a very reliable source of information, I did my own research ..."

"She bought a three-story library with her, don't know how and I never saw it – but she did." Rowena rolled her eyes at Godric's words, but carried on speaking as though he hadn't interrupted her.

"AND I discovered that King Arthur apparently – or at least it written in a fair few places, that the castle and the lands immediately surrounding it were supposed to belong to the closest landowners, and over time the lands and castle have been left to their own devises really, and you are only landowner within a seven day ride of the castle – which makes you the legal owner of the castle"

Brian blinked in surprise "I own a castle? Fancy that, how odd." Rowena let him absorb this information before carrying on speaking, "It actually worked out better for us because of this technicality, you are the legal landowner in the muggle world (we ... Godric, will still to the King), but as a wizard it should be enough for the wizarding world and you have a staff – which is still a huge sign of respect."

"You can have it – I'm a simple man, just a farmer - all I need are a few chickens to lay my eggs, a cow to milk, a roof over my head and the occasional visit from my son wouldn't be amiss" the last part was said with twinkling eyes to Godric, before the conversation could take a lighter tone, Rowena wanted to finish with the business before she let them move on.

"That is very kind of you Mr Ardent-Coeur ..."

"Call me Brian lass – never been much for all this 'mister' business."

"Brian, but you can't just 'give' us the land, it has to be done officially – luckily I have taken the liberty of drawing a contract" she pulled out from her bag a sheet of parch rolled up so it was as thick as two fists held together "which I hope is fair to all parties involved, and if you would be kind to read through it – and you are welcome to make any suggestions – and sign it, then we'll be done."

"Just one problem with that, lass – I can't read." Rowena gaped at Brian – at a loss for words and Sal couldn't resist remarking to her "Didn't think of that one – did you Rowena." Brian chuckled at their expressions and offered a solution. "You could always get Alex to sign it for you, he was going to inherit this house and the land after I die – so he should be able to count as the 'legal owner' shouldn't he?"

"That's a great idea!" exclaimed Godric animatedly, Sal scowled and muttered to himself "you mean we could have just stayed and not gone on this crazy expedition." Brian nodded to the fireplace "I have a little floo powder left – haven't used the stuff in twenty odd years, makes my nose itch you see ... and it's a little hard on the old joints, but it's still there and as far as I'm aware powder doesn't go off."

"I-I suppose I should go" said Godric slightly unenthusiastically but Helga stood up smiling warmly at him "I'll go – Merlin knows how many questions you have for Brian here" she was responded with a beaming look from the knight as she grabbed some of the powder and disappeared. Brian glanced at the stove "Kettle's boiled."

Godric started to stand saying "I'll make it" but he got whacked by Brian's staff – though on his arm not his head, "oh no you don't lad, Alex has told me all about your over-helpfulness when you are a guest" "I'm not over-helpful!" Rowena patted his shoulder "yes you are Godric."

Sal nodded in agreement "that's why we spent a week in that stuck-up village, you kept fixing all their buildings for them." As he made the tea, Brian glanced at Godric who looked as though he was going to burst.

"Alright lad, what do you want to know?"

"Everything! What was Sir Alex like as a child? What made him become a knight? Has he really told you about me?" Brian chuckled and held up a hand "alright lad, I get the picture."

SSRRHHGG

It was about half an hour before Helga and Sir Alex arrived (apparently he had been in a meeting with a few lords) and they entered the farmhouse just in time to hear Brian saying to a laughing Godric "... and so from then on he was terrified of ducks, all because ..."

"Dad, I was seven years old, anyone would be!"

There was a loud crash as Godric leaped from his chair – with such force that it was knocked to the ground, and stood up straight to attention, Sal rolled his eyes; they should have realised that after months of not seeing his mentor Godric would immediately revert to his respectful mode. Sir Alex smiled at Godric "at ease son." Godric gave him a sheepish smile – but his eyes were alight with excitement.

"Hey son" Brian got up and gave his son a hug which Sir Alex returned before sitting at the table beside him "It's good to see you Dad, but I would appreciate it if you didn't tell Godric any more stories about me, it's hard to knock sense into someone if they know all your secrets."

Sal leaned forward "you still think it's possible to knock sense into him?" Sir Alex nodded in mock seriousness "you have a point, but I have to try."

"Because you never know until you try – and you can't conquer your fear if you don't find the courage to at least try to do so." Stated Godric; repeating one of the many lessons that Sir Alex had taught him, his mentor gave him another smile before turning to the business aspect of the meeting.

"Now I believe you want me to sign a contract so that you can legally own the castle?"

Rowena nodded "yes, if you would just read then sign it can all be made official" she handed him the scroll of parchment the older knight raised an eye brow at the size of it before unfurling the very end where the line for his signature was, "are you not going to read it? What if something in there is not beneficial to you? And I"

Sir Alex held up a hand "Lady Ravenclaw, I have known you long enough to know that you would have thought of every probable possibility on either side of any argument and will have catered for them all."

Rowena looked down bashfully and Sir Alex picked up the quill and signed his name right on the dotted line. Just as he finished, and while were beaming and celebrating, Sal gazed into Sir Alex's eyes and asked in his cold voice "did you know?" the older knight smirked at him.

"Know that barely two days journey from the house I grew up in, there was a suitable place for this school? I couldn't exactly deny Godric the chance to go on his first ever quest, now could I?"

Sal saw the rest of the answer in Sir Alex's mind '_and besides it had to be done – Godric needed the opportunity to make his own decisions, and I needed to let him be an adult and accept that he is no longer the child I took in seven years ago'_ he glanced at Godric who was bouncing up and down in his seat with a huge beaming smile on his face '_no matter how he behaves'. _

Sal nodded his understanding – that was why (although he would only ever admit it in the deepest, most hidden chambers' of his heart) he had actually agreed in the first place to go on the journey – he was not yet ready to give up the illusion of Godric being a child, and it had been hard letting him make the almost grown-up decisions that the knight had made on this quest.

"So what are you all going to do now?" asked Brian, Helga smiled around the room and offered her thoughts "I think that we should go home – well Ro, Sal and myself, I mean, if you are not opposed to having guests Brian, I'm sure that Godric and Alex would love to stay with you, and if we spend two days relaxing and refreshing and then meet at say the castle ..."

"We'll set up an Apparating point close by" offered Sir Alex, the others nodded and Brian smiled at the two knights "I'll be glad to have you stay with me for a few days." Helga smiled "well I'm glad that is settled, Ro, Sal ... Sir Alex, Brian – look after Godric and don't let him do anything so ..."

"Gryffindor"

"Yes thank you Sal" Godric looked confused though "how can I not do something 'Gryffindor'? I am a Gryffindor?" Helga gave him a patronizing smile "yes dear, but I don't want to come back and find you injured from one of your 'great ideas'."

Sir Alex nodded, ignoring Godric's confused expression and reassured Helga "don't worry I'll keep him in line." After giving Godric (the only one who openly accepted and returned hugs) she stepped into the fireplace and disappeared to "Henry's Bakery."

Ro packed up all her papers gave Godric an indulgent one-armed hug (to avoid having him give her one of his bone crushing squeezes) and nodded cordially to everyone "Sir Alex, Brian, Slytherin."

"Ravenclaw"

Smirking at Salazar, she turned to leave but had another thought "Godric – please do not try and fix the castle manually while we are gone" "I wouldn't do that" she raised an eye-brow and Godric deflated "fine I give my word I won't do that" she nodded accepting that and disappeared to "Ravenclaw Manor."

Then it was Sal's turn he finished his tea and nodded to the room and almost made it to the fireplace without any interference but before he could grab the powder he found himself being once again hugged by Godric, he still found it strange that even though Godric was taller than him, he always felt as though he was being hugged for the very first time by the ten year old child.

"Say hello to Selena and Sal, Sal" the Slytherin rolled his eyes he still didn't get what was so funny about calling him and his son by the same nick-name, but that was Godric for you. He patted that boy's back and stepped back into the flames stating calmly "Slytherin Castle."

Godric beamed around the room at the other two and Sir Alex leaned back in his seat comfortably, he then stated in a very casual voice "so Helga and I were talking before we came here and she told me some very interesting stories about you journey – tell me Godric what is Aurora like?"

The father and son laughed good-naturedly as Godric's face turned redder than his cloak at that.

AN – Right I'm done this chapter! It was going to have other stuff added, more action and the likes – but Ro had an awful lot to say. 

I don't think it matters though – I like this story; yes it is not amazing or fantastic ... or even great admittedly. But I think it is good and an enjoyable read, and I hope you readers do as well.

Finished 10-3-2012


	10. Chapter 10

_Author's note: I have the end of this story all set out perfectly in my mind – but I can't write it until I get the middle part of this story written. _

_Some parts are purposefully supposed to not make complete sense._

**Anyway, I do not own Harry Potter or anything to do with it. Well I do own all the characters that you don't recognise, but they belong to the Harry Potter world so they don't really count.**

_This is a story of the Four Founders – a tale which talks of their decisions and the reasons behind them. This is the story of Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Godric Gryffindor._

Chapter Ten – Hogwarts.

_Godric beamed around the room at the other two and Sir Alex leaned back in his seat comfortably, __he then stated in a very casual voice "so Helga and I were talking before we came here and she told me some__very interesting stories about your journey – tell me Godric what is Aurora like?" _

_The father and son laughed good-naturedly as Godric's face turned redder than his cloak at that._

SSRRHHGG

After two days of relaxation (aside from Helga mock-regretting telling her twins tales of Godric's adventures; as they were both running around pretending to be him, fake swords and all.) the four friends arrived at the castle and the innovations of the school began. The world seemed to blur through time as they worked, because even though they were using magic for most of the work all of them wanted to be thorough.

Somehow word had gotten out about the location of the school and numerous witches and wizards had turned up, some offered to help the four, a few were reporters or historians but most of the others were trying to profit from all the hype about this 'new idea', most had set up some kind of shop in the old village that resided close by the castle.

Sal hated all this unnecessary (in his opinion) publicity and secluded himself in the castle – working on the interior designs of the dungeons and lower levels (and a certain secret chamber he could go to be alone). Helga and Rowena didn't mind all the people around but both mostly kept to the castle – Helga working on the ground levels and kitchen area, as well as making sure things were child-safe. Ro had her library and was working one most of the towers (using her Animagus form to help).

Godric however loved all the attention everything was getting, and when he wasn't busy working on (exploring) the grounds and the castle or actually doing work on the rest of said castle – mainly the great hall and the tower he had claimed, he would go and socialise with the people of the village. He would also provide the village with a great amount of profit by buying things there – much to the displeasure of Sal, and the amusement of Helga. One such thing Godric came back with was a large hat – a muggle version of a wizard's hat that the young knight had bought from an 'odd-bods' stall. Ro and Sal had attempted to reason with Godric about it, but Helga told them that give him a few days and he would get bored with it.

SSRRHHGG

Rowena tapped her quill against the table in irritation; Sal and Helga were at the meeting (set in a little room just off the Great Hall), but Godric was late - admittedly only by two minutes but still! The door from the Great Hall opened to reveal a tall figure in a red cloak with a wide brimmed pointy hat "Man you guys wouldn't believe how many pigs there are out there!"

Ro rolled her eyes "there called warthogs, Godric-"

"Yeah, that bar is calling itself the 'Hogshead' you guys have got to come down there one day! They have great stuff called Butterbeer, don't worry Helga it's non-alcoholic and ..." "You're late." Godric stopped babbling and gave Rowena a hurt look and she had to work hard to keep her face stern – which became very difficult when he muttered sombrely "sorry Rowena" and took his seat; perhaps a little bit more dejectedly than necessary.

"Thank-you, now that we are all here, we can start this meeting, last week we decided that I will teach Charms and Transfiguration, Sal will teach Potions and Arithmancy, Helga – Herbology and Runes, Godric will take Defence and Care of Magical Creatures and my husband Richard has offered to teach History and Astrology. We still have to name the school; Godric is still wearing his ridiculous hat-" "It is NOT ridiculous!" "AND we need to talk about the students. Obviously students will need to be enthusiastic about education ..."

Sal interrupted her "enthusiastic about education? No students enjoy education, no what we need is those of pure-blood and ..." Godric forgot about his pouting at the insults to his hat and his sorrow at making Ro mad, and joined in the argument "Don't be silly Sal – we're inviting everyone; but they are going to have to be brave – to survive at school" he beamed at the thought and Helga shook her head "would you listen to yourselves?

Arguing over what kind of students we will teach, for shame on all of you ... I will take the lot and teach them everything I know - be they brave, smart or cunning." She nodded to each of the others as she said the last bit, Godric jumped up from his seat at her words "Helga that's it – you're a genius!" the others gave him wary looks; whenever Godric had an idea – he had an idea, always an over-the-top grand idea.

"We'll separate the kids into four groups – houses! The Slytherin house for the cunning and ambitious! The Ravenclaw house for the highly intelligence! The Gryffindor house for the brave and courageous!" Sal groaned at the thought of many people with Gryffindor personalities and Helga smiled in amusement at Godric "and what of the Hufflepuff house? Do we just get the leftovers?" Godric shook his head; still beaming "nope, Helga you get the best of the best – loyal, hardworking, fair and the best cooks in the entire world."

Helga laughed "oh Sweetie, I don't think all those in my house will be great cooks." Godric frowned but his blue eyes twinkled merrily at his idea. Sal looked rapidly between the two of them "Wow, wow, wow are we actually going to make these 'houses'?" a glance went around the four and Godric let out an excited "yep!" Helga smiled affirmative and Ro nodded thoughtfully, Sal smirked "fine but I'm not organising it."

Ro smiled "oh please as if I'd let you deal with something like that. I will organise the class schedules and ..." she trailed off "how are we going to sort them? Because we cannot just look at them and choose who we have, and what happens after we die? And we have to find a fair way otherwise everything will be ... will not work" she ended with wide-eye desperation, and everyone looked at Godric; because despite Ro being the intelligent one; all of them had to admit that it was Godric who came up with the best and most creative ideas, and he didn't disappoint.

"Well we could always hold an elaborate test that will point out what characteristics they have – We could have this huge awesome course and..." Helga placed a hand firmly on Godric's shoulder "Sweetie they are going to be eleven year old children, we are not putting them through an obstacle course – especially on their first day." Godric shrugged undeterred "fair enough" they all fell into a thoughtful silence for a few moments before Godric started to grin again.

"I have it!" he pulled off his hat and sat on the table in between the four of them, the other three stared at him and the hat in confusion which caused the young knight to grin even more broadly "in the muggle world they use this trick where they put names into a hat and pull them out to organise them." Sal raised an eye-brow "you expect us to use a muggle trick?" "Well not exactly; I say we enchant this hat to be alive and know that mind-reading thing you can do Sal-"

"You mean legillmency?" "Yeah that, and then the hat can decide where they go" he beamed but everyone else was still staring at him in shock "what?" Rowena was staring at Godric as though he was insane "What! What! Do you know what you're asking! You want us to make an inanimate object sentient! To teach it legillmency! How to talk! Do you even comprehend the magnanimous task this would be? It is completely improbable!"

She collapsed back onto her seat; exhausted from her 'freak-out'. But Godric continued to grin "but not impossible right?" Ro gaped at him "Godric Gryffindor, are you completely serious in this?" he nodded "come on Ro – you're the smartest person ever! If anyone can do it – you can, and Sal can teach it how to look into the minds of everyone, and Helga can teach it how to be fair, it could work – we just won't know until we try. Please."

Ro sighed; neither she nor Sal had ever worked out how to say no to Godric when he said please like that (big innocent eyes with a hopeful smile), Helga could but only because she had very cute but very mischievous twins – however much to the other's slight irritation; Helga did not usually disagree with Godric or his ideas. And now that she was over her initial 'freak-out' and was once again thinking calmly, Ro had to admit that she was looking forward to the challenge.

"Alright then, let us see what we can do."

SSRRHHGG

It was almost the end of June and Rowena was starting to freak out – they had everything sorted; except for the name and without the name they would not be able to send out the acceptance letters and therefore the students would not know to come and ... she took a deep breath, it was basically the reason she was stressing out over everything, something that the other three all noticed and finally Godric managed to convince Ro to go into the village and just relax for a day and when she came back they would work until they had discovered the perfect name.

Helga, Sal and Godric had started throwing names around before Ro had returned from the village and Godric's ideas had grown more and more ridiculous as each one got rejected, Helga shook her head "Godric, we are NOT calling the school 'Godric Gryffindor's Great, Gigantic and Helga Hufflepuff's Happy Hauling and Rowena Ravenclaw's Royally Rich and Salazar Slytherin's Stupendous School of Sorcery! Nor are we calling G-G-G-G-H-H-H-H-R-R-R-R-S-S-S-S-S!"

Sal nodded "indeed Godric that name is just ridiculous and it is not even the craziest name you have come up with, this whole thing is a load of hog-"

"WARTS!" "-wash it is ... Lady Ravenclaw what is matter?" Sal and Helga stared at a very angry Rowena, none of them noticing Godric sitting upright with a very excited look of awe on his face.

"Everything was going so well, I actually had enjoyed my day off and was feeling very relaxed and was waiting in the line to buy a new quill and then this little girl comes up and starts talking to me, which is all fine and dandy but then when she finds out I'm a witch she has the gall to ask if I'm covering up my WARTS because apparently all withes have warts!

I got out of there before I did anything, but really do I look like I have -"

"That's just a load of Hog-"

"Warts? I mean really it should be clearly quite obvious that I don't have-"

"-Wash nobody in their right mind would or should think that witches have-"

"Hog"

"Warts!"

Helga glanced at Godric in confusion Ro and Sal continued their over-lapping rants, neither of them noticing what the other two were doing "Godric?" "Wait for it"

"Thank-you Sal I am glad that you understand and you are completely right, it is a load of-"

"Witches and wizards are perfectly capable of using magic to make sure that they don't have-"

"Hog-" "-Warts"

"Hogwarts."

"Hog-warts?"

"Hogwarts!"

"-wash, completely and utterly stupid."

"You might as well say that a witch is like warthogs-"

"Warthogs – Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts"

Ro took a deep breath then glanced around at Helga and Godric who were grinning at each other excitedly "what on earth are you two doing?" they grinned at her and Sal finally noticed that nobody was actually listening to him and stared at the others. Helga and Godric shared a glance and then turned and spoke one word "Hogwarts" Sal and Ro gazed at them in total confusion.

Godric grinned at them "the name for our school – Hogwarts" Sal raised an eye-brow "hog-warts? That is actually one of the tamest ideas you have come up with" Helga nodded in agreement and Godric just continued to grin "that's because I didn't come up with it – you guys did" Helga nodded again "it's true – because you were both speaking at the same time and using the words 'hog' and 'warts' at the perfect timing it got into his head and voila"

Ro blinked thoughtfully "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, well it certainly rolls of the tongue ... and I'm sure that no other building would have such a name." Sal nodded "so then I guess we are calling the school Hogwarts." Helga smiled warmly around the room "Hogwarts" Ro gave a small laugh of relief "Hogwarts." Godric beamed around the room and held out his sword in a salute to the castle itself "Hogwarts."

AN – And So the school was named ... in this version anyway. 

Thank-you for your patience, if anyone is enjoying this story that is.

Anyway will up-date when I can. 

Finished 23-04-2012


	11. Chapter 11

_Author's note: I seem to be missing some words in the online version of this story – please note that I am not meaning to do so._

_P.S – sorry about the long wait._

**Anyway, I do not own Harry Potter or anything to do with it. Well I do own all the characters that you don't recognise, but they belong to the Harry Potter world so they don't really count.**

_This is a story of the Four Founders – a tale which talks of their decisions and the reasons behind them. This is the story of Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Godric Gryffindor._

Chapter Eleven – Draco Dormiens Nunqam Titillandus.

_Ro blinked thoughtfully "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, well it certainly rolls of the tongue ... and I'm sure that no other building would have such a name." Sal nodded "so then I guess we are calling the school Hogwarts." Helga smiled warmly around the room "Hogwarts" Ro gave a small laugh of relief "Hogwarts." Godric beamed around the room and held out his sword in a salute to the castle itself "Hogwarts."_

It was a week until the school would open and everything was sorted – the letters had been sent and returned, the castle was Helga-approved for safety. Rowena had finalised the sorting hat; and was refusing to let Godric see the finished product (Helga had been there when she had finished and Sal had helped her hide from it from Godric) and Godric had fulfilled his promise to both the Centaurs; who seemed happy with their forest (though it was hard for them to tell with Centaurs), and Aurora – which had been rather amusing to watch to all present. Sal chuckled at the memory.

SSRRHHGG

They had arrived at the clearing that the bandits had occupied and were walking to the Thatcher's house, Godric had slowly ceased talking and eventually stopped walking – just stood there staring at the door. The others had kept walking but then realised that Godric wasn't with them, Sal smirked "Godric Gryffindor – do you mean to tell me that you – who has never shied away from anything; ever, is afraid of talking to a lady?"

Godric gulped and nodded frantically, Sal sniggered. Helga stared at Godric incredulously "Godric you guys have been sending letters to each other since we left them how can you be afraid? You love her right?" he nodded – looking even more terrified at admitting this. Helga continued "Well I know for a fact that she loves you too, so what is there for you to fear?"

"What if her dad doesn't let me court her? What if the letters were actually lost and it wasn't her writing? What if she says no! You know what; I think there is something over there that needs my immediate attention." As Godric turned to leave Helga and Rowena grabbed each of his arms; and Ro tried her turn at talking to him.

"Godric Helga is quite right, and besides aren't you always saying that 'it is not about finding the courage to face your fears, but finding the courage to at least try because ..." "...nothing can be achieved unless you try" finished Godric, "that is very wise advise and everyone should follow it but that thing over there really needs my at...tent...ion"

He trailed off on the last word and stood staring at something the others couldn't see, but his gaze at caught a tiny dew drop that was falling off a leaf, and the sunlight that gleamed through it as it fell – this caused him to remember the night they had stayed with the Thatchers.

_Godric and Aurora had quietly slipped away from the house while the others were busy talking, and they were now lying in a small clearing looking up at the stars. "What do you suppose they are?" Aurora had asked, Godric shrugged "Ro thinks that they are gasses and bodies of like earth that burning or shining millions of miles away, Helga thinks that stars are the spirits of those_ _departed watching over us, and Sal thinks that a wizard cast a spell so that a giant blanket would cover the sky at night – with holes in it."_

"_And what do you think?"_

"_... Hope ... Each star is a pinprick of light against darkness, a darkness that swallows up the sun – the biggest symbol of hope there is, each and every day, and for me any light no matter how small it may appear – it always reminds me that there is hope in the world and as long as there is hope in the world then evil will never win. It sounds silly I know, but their physicality 'what they actually are' doesn't mean as much to me as what they are to me."_

_Aurora smiled at him and took his hand "I don't it sounds silly at all – promise me something Godric; don't lose your hope no matter what scenario you find yourself in, keep your hope alive." He squeezed her hand "I can't promise that I will always have hope, but I promise to always remember this and to try – no matter what happens."_

Godric nodded at his memory and abruptly turned around and marched to the door. Ro and Helga steadied themselves and Sal sniggered at them as they glanced at each other in confusion. Godric knocked on the door, Migale opened the door and before his courage could desert him Godric open his mouth and let out a rush of words. "Mister Thatcher, I would like your permission to court your daughter, I -" he stopped as Aurora stepped out of the doorway "finally – we thought you were going to stay out here forever."

SSRRHHGG

Sal chuckled at the memory. Of course after that, things had gotten a little too fluffy and sickening for his taste, but that was in the past. Now they were all back at Hogwarts – Aurora had come to be the school nurse; as healing was the only magic she could properly perform, (Sal had complained about the lack of pure-blood lineage in the school ... and had been ignored), and their families were visiting the castle.

The Hufflepuffs had moved to Hogsmeade and Henry's bakery business was booming, Richard Ravenclaw was of course going to be staying at Hogwarts with Rowena and Sal's family were visiting the castle. Sal glanced around the room of the North Tower where everyone but Godric were situated – Ro and Helga were talking quietly together (something they had been doing for the past fortnight, Sal had a shrewd idea of what about but decided to wait for confirmation), Selena was sitting quietly sewing some embroidery and Salvador was sitting reading a book – Salazar himself was sitting trying to outsmart himself in a game of chess.

Rowena suddenly got a look of horror on her face "Oh thank Merlin" she whispered, Helga glanced at her in surprise "I am so pleased we decided to only invite the 11 year olds to Hogwarts." Helga tilted her head slightly in confusion "you mean for another reason besides that it is fairer on everyone involved? And if there were older students they would not actually be able to properly learn the work?" Ro nodded "if we had let all ages in, then the last year – the seventh year group – would be 17 or 18 ... the same age as Godric!"

Helga's eyes widened and Ro continued speaking "meaning that the students properly wouldn't respect him" Helga smiled warmly "Ro, this is Godric you're talking about – people can't help but respect him; but I do see your point and I do agree that it is better that he will always be at least five years older than any students of Hogwarts."

Ro took a deep breath and calmed down as she thought about the truth in Helga's words; she faced her friend with a worried look "are we doing the right thing? Letting Godric teach?" Helga blinked then nodded "yes, I know that he is ... young and energetic, but we aren't that much older than him and I think it will be good for him maybe help him calm down a bit." Ro nodded; that was her thought as well, she just needed it to be confirmed.

Of course it had to happen that just as they were saying nice things about a mature Godric Gryffindor that Godric behaving like his usual energetic self burst through the door "Guess what!" Salvador glanced up from his book at the loud noise "I just finished putting up the last painting – the one of Sir Cadogan!" everyone groaned and Godric glared at them.

"Hey he is situated in the north tower to be out of your way and he's my friend – so he stays" as they reassured him that it was fine that the knight painting stayed Salvador slipped away from his seat and stood by the window and no-one saw the small smirk flicker across his face before he turned and drew the attention.

"Father, what is that smoke rising from that lump on that hill just over there?"

Everyone conversed on the window and sure enough smoke was rising from a hill barely an hour's walk from the school. Sal frowned, not wanting his suspicions to be true "some foolish farmer setting rubbish a light?" Ro frowned "the trees get in the way of seeing clearly, maybe I should turn and fly-" Helga interrupted her quietly "oh no you don't - we have no idea what will happen and I'm not risking anything" Sal raised an eye-brow and thought they were lucky that Godric was searching in his robes for something and didn't see them.

"Aha got it" the knight exclaimed pulling out a telescope Sal scowled at the muggle artefact, but he couldn't complain about it as the others had outvoted him so that they were included for Astronomy ... it didn't mean he had to like it. "It is probably nothing just a ..." Godric held up his telescope and gazed through the lens the others watched as his expression took one of awe and let out a slow breath "... dragon."

Sal scowled and Rowena gaped and Helga stared at Godric before starting to freak out "A DRAGON! This close to the school! This close to the village! What are we going to do! This is bad this is very bad! Oh no there is smoke what if it lights the whole hill ablaze? What if" Godric placed his hand over her mouth; cutting her off mid-tirade "Helga calm down" she stared at him.

"Godric there's a dragon out there."

"I know, and I'm going to go deal with it."

"What? No!" Helga exclaimed and Ro and Sal nodded in agreement and Godric stared at them with stubborn eyes "do you guys want to go and try and get rid of it? How would you go about doing so anyway? If we attack it won't get the dragon away, the only way is to scare him off, I'm sure I can do that – without causing anyone or thing to be damaged" he didn't finish his sentence with 'of course if it is a female then I'm screwed.' As he didn't think Helga could take hearing that.

SSRRHHGG

The dragon was asleep he (it was a male welsh green) had found this nice warm spot to rest and was having comfortable rest, unaware that he was blowing smoke out of his nostrils. There was a sound and smell of a human approaching, he open one of his eyes into a slit in time to see and tall figure leap in front of him - he would admit to being surprised, this human must have been very good at sneaking around if he managed to get so close to him without detection.

"Be gone great dragon! You cannot rest here!"

The dragon snorted – this human; though had a sense of immense power about him, and was holding one of those weapons that many of his breathen had been injured by, but he posed no threat to him, merely a child who attacked front on, if the human wanted to injure him he should have already done so. He yawned and turned his head away drifting back to sleep and paying the human no more attention – he wasn't worth it.

Godric frowned – the dragon wasn't paying him any attention ... and he was sure that he had laughed at him! He poked the creature – nothing. In order to wake the dragon up he tried setting off some fireworks, threatening him and singing; surprisingly it was only his singing that managed to get a reaction though it seemed more like the dragon was laughing at him than ever.

At a safe distance the other three were also laughing "Only Godric would be soo lucky as to find a dragon that doesn't pay him any attention." Sighed Helga, she, Ro and Sal were all on standby ready to cast protective charms around Godric, but at the moment Sal was busy laughing as the Knight was pretending to ignore the dragon by polishing his sword – blinding the watchers as it caught the sunlight.

Finally Godric sat and stared at the shimmering scales of the sleeping dragon and he reached forward (he was far too close to the dragon's mouth for Helga's liking) and then he started to ... Rowena's jaw dropped and she asked weakly "is he ... is he tickling the dragon?" Sal nodded speechless and Helga groaned into her hands.

The dragon was really asleep, he had been ignoring the strange but amusing human and had been lulled into a slumber when he felt something just under his nose but above his mouth ... it was light and soft and not really touching ... and pushing air up his nostrils.

Helga let out a silent scream as the Dragon sneezed up a ball of fire – right where Godric was sitting. Fortunately however Godric had an excellent reaction time and managed to jump out of the way of the flame, he then was forced to do a dance similar to the highland fling as the welsh continued to sneeze up fire. But it did have the benefit of causing the dragon to lift up from the ground and start to fly away, Godric was celebrating when as the dragon was right overhead the tail swept out and hit the young knight flat off his feet and caused his view to go black.

SSRRHHGG

White light – how weird, Godric had been sure that he had been watching something green ... it wasn't light – it was a room, and he wasn't on grass he was on a bed. Godric groaned the Hospital Wing; his least favourite room in the whole castle because even though he loved being with Aurora, he hated having to stay there while he 'healed' especially when he was fine! No matter that the others always disagreed with his own conclusion of being fine.

"So you're awake are you?"

Blue eyes met green and Godric smiled sappily at his golden-haired girl "how long have I been here?" Aurora smiled at him "about thirteen hours, you never do things half-way do you - when you are knocked-out you remain out for a good while. They have come up with a school motto Draco Dormiens Nunqam Titillandus"

"Never tickle a sleeping dragon – best advice ever heard." He grinned at her but grew serious when he saw her give him a pleading look "Godric, please don't do that again – you got lucky with that dragon, but I don't think I or any of us could stand it if something major happened to you."

Godric gently took her hands "Aurora, I cannot promise that I won't be injured and if there is any danger to anyone, to this school, to anything and I could put a stop to it; then I will try my hardest to stop the danger. But I promise you this – I will always come back to you, no matter what has happened I will find a way I promise." She smiled at him and he grinned his less serious and more mischievous grin "so can I leave now?" she snapped immediately into nurse mode.

"Oh no you don't Godric Gryffindor; you are going to stay the night"

"But I'm fine"

"You always say that – I have learned not to trust your judgement when it comes to your health." Godric pouted and sighed; it never occurred to him to sneak out when Aurora wasn't around, it just wasn't his style and besides she would just subject him to another night in there if he did.

AN – I just couldn't make the Dragon bad, I love dragons. Though my favourite out of J.'s 'Fantastic beasts and where to find them' is the NZ Antipodean Opaleye.

Finished 22-05-2012


	12. Chapter 12

_**NEW AN – SORRY SORRY SORRY.**_

_**THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO MISTY2012 THANK-YOU FOR GIVING ME THE PUSH TO KEEP WRITING.**_

And; I can not tie in the work anymore to make a coherent story – it just does not work for me – so I am doing one-shots that should be in my chronological order. Sorry. 

_Old Author's note: My other stories have been deleted – because ff is behaving like a combination of Voldemort, Umbridge and Rita Skeeter, as I am sure that you are all well aware. However this one has not been deleted and I intend to finish it ... despite my writer's block for this chapter. _

**Anyway, I do not own Harry Potter or anything to do with it. Well I do own all the characters that you don't recognise, but they belong to the Harry Potter world so they don't really count.**

_This is a story of the Four Founders – a tale which talks of their decisions and the reasons behind them. This is the story of Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Godric Gryffindor._

Chapter Twelve – The First Sorting.

Helga hid a laugh as she watched her friends; Godric had been bouncing in his seat, but was now arguing with Ro and Sal who were worrying needlessly. The date was the first of September and in a few moments Richard Ravenclaw would enter into the Great Hall with those students that would become Hogwart's first ever students. Helga sighed – she should probably stop her friends before they arrived.

"-And what if they fall in the lake?"

"Sal makes a very good point those spells we put on them …"

"Oh come on Rowena! You and I both know that you never muck up a spell, the only way to fall out of those boats is – as I demonstrated – by literally standing on the edge of the boat; and unless the students are super excited then they won't be standing on the edge anytime soon – so would you both please STOP this excessive worrying."

"Godric is quite right" everyone jumped as Helga entered the conversation for the first time "Rowena, Salazar – if things go wrong; then they go wrong, but we have prepared for every situation both of you need to take a deep breath and accept that there are things neither of you can control" they both pouted at that and Godric let out a smug "ha" and Helga turned her look on him. "As for you Godric Gryffindor, I know you are excited about this – but you need to calm down, the poor dears will be nervous enough as it is."

"But-"

"Shh – here they come."

And so they did; first Richard Ravenclaw walked in followed by forty tiny eleven year olds – the first Hogwarts students ever. All of them had personally received an owl-sent letter and a visit from one of 'the Four Founders' (as numerous people had labelled them). All were from all around England and Scotland so there was many varying looks, but they all wore the same expression – nervousness and full of awe for the castle they were in, Helga smiled warmly as she observed them, hopefully they would find a second-home here.

For a moment the new students stood and stared at the hall and at the four at the teacher's table, suddenly Sir Alex (who had taken them across the lake in the boats) walked in through a side-door; holding the hat. Godric frowned not being able to get a good look at it – Rowena had wanted to surprise him, so he was the only one of the staff yet to see his old hat; not for lack of trying on his behalf though.

Sir Alex placed the hat on a stool in between the teacher's table and the new students, everyone stared at it – all the children and Godric wondering what was going to happen, there was a moment of anticipation, then the hat open at a rip in its brim and began to sing.

Welcome to Hogwarts, to all of you  
To teachers and students, to this school that's new.

Four houses, one where you will be  
Which one? Just leave it up to me.

There's Slytherin, for the cunning and well-bred  
Or Ravenclaw, who'll have wisdom in the head.  
Perhaps it's Hufflepuff, where you'll have a ball  
Or Gryffindor – for the bravest of them all.

As for me, and how I know all that?  
It's quite simple - I'm the Sorting Hat.

There was moment of awed silence then Godric started clapping enthusiastically – his face was alight, as though it were mid-winter's eve – which convinced his friends they had done the right thing in keeping it a secret from him. The students all joined in cheering with the knight and Rowena smiled smugly (she would never admit it, but she had been terrified her work on the hat would not work right). Just as the applause died down Godric let out a childish, but booming "That was absolutely amazing!" Everyone stared at him – then one of the students (Helga thought she might have recognised him as the eldest Weasley child) let out a laugh, and soon everyone had joined in.

Helga smiled to herself later that evening, she for one, felt that the first ever Hogwarts Sorting Ceremony and Welcoming Feast had been a hit; the house-elves (such dear little creatures; always eager to give the best possible service) had created a feast fit for a king, Rowena's magic on the hat and hall had been appropriately adored, Godric had not stopped his infectious grin the whole night – so much that even Sal had let his expression soften slightly, and she, Helga Hufflepuff, had ten new children to look after; something she was determined to do well. Yes this school was definitely off to a good start.

AN – So yeah. Sorry it is short and I didn't do any of the students – not important to this story and I wouldn't know what names to have. And the Sorting Hat's song – sucks but it is his first one. Anyway I hope you enjoyed it. And thanks. 


	13. Chapter 13

**AN – I am probably going to lose all you amazing readers with this chapter.**

SSRRHHGG

**_WARNING_ – IF YOU ARE CHRISTIAN OR RELIGIOUS OR CHURCH GOING _DO NOT_ I REPEAT _DO NOT _READ THIS CHAPTER.**

SSRRHHGG

**Anyway, I do not own Harry Potter or anything to do with it. Well I do own all the characters that you don't recognise, but they belong to the Harry Potter world so they don't really count.**

_This is a story of the Four Founders – a tale which talks of their decisions and the reasons behind them. This is the story of Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Godric Gryffindor._

Chapter Thirteen – The First Fight.

_Helga smiled to herself later that evening, she for one, felt that the first ever Hogwarts Sorting Ceremony and Welcoming Feast had been a hit; the house-elves (such dear little creatures; always eager to give the best possible service) had created a feast fit for a king, Rowena's magic on the hat and hall had been appropriately adored, Godric had not stopped his infectious grin the whole night – so much that even Sal had let his expression soften slightly, and she, Helga Hufflepuff, had ten new children to look after; something she was determined to do well. Yes this school was definitely off to a good start._

SSRRHHGG

Rowena smiled as she sipped her tea – it was the weekend and thanks to her splendid organisation skills (if she did say so herself) she had already marked all the assignments and for once she had a brief moment all to herself.

Salvadore Slytherin – who was in his third year Hogwarts (in Slytherin house of course), had just left her quarters; Rowena enjoyed drinking tea with Sal's son – he quite often came and asked questions on anything and everything. Ro was always happy to give her students extra lessons and enjoyed helping to enhance the boy's inquisitive mind, despite him having his father's disposition for cruelty at times.

Of course thinking about Sal's kid got Rowena thinking of her own seven year old Helena (who had been born exactly nine months after the castle had been located), Ro loved her daughter … but it was always awkward between them – Ro would admit, if only to herself; that she just didn't know much about being a mother, but as Helga always said – she always tried her best and made sure to tell Helena that she loved her and was proud of her. Speaking of Helga – the door opened to reveal the plump, happy little witch holding a handful of letters.

"Ro, there you are; I have the letters Henry sent and knew you like to read the news. But have you been hiding in here by yourself all day?"

"Of course not Helga, - I had breakfast didn't I? And why this morning I visited Godric to remind him of the paper work he, as headmaster, needs to do."

"Let me guess, Godric gave you the whole speech of 'I'm not the sole headmaster of this school – Hogwarts was created by all four of us and we are all equal.'"

"I'm impressed your Godric impression is almost better than the real thing. I worry about that boy at times; sometimes I wonder when he will realise that he has been sole headmaster since the school opened"

"Probably when his grand-children have grand-children"

Rowena laughed; enjoying the light hearted humour with her best friend and took the paper from Helga saying "and after that Salvadore came in wanting to know all about Apparating." Helga laughed as she shook her head "That boy – I swear he wants to know everything before he finishes school … although it may be a good thing as Hogwarts might not survive my Twins when they start next year."

Rowena didn't answer but stared at the paper in her hands with horror.

"Ro?"

The Ravenclaw snapped her head up and asked urgently "has Sal or Godric seen this?" Helga looked confused before reading what the paper said; she only needed to read two words before she too was sporting an expression of horror. "I don't know. Oh I hope no-" Before Helga could finish they heard Godric's voice shout out in the hallway.

"NO SAL! WE ARE NOT BANNING MUGGLE-BORNS FROM ATTENDING HOGWARTS!"

Rowena and Helga groaned; this was something that had been building for weeks – ever since the Stature or Secrecy had been passed, but the both of them had hoped the explosion would not be where any students would see them … unfortunately that wasn't too be. Quickly they both left Rowena's office and pushed their way through the throngs of students that were forming to stare at two of their teachers.

Sal was sneering – his anger far less impressive than Godric's but still fill of the same stubbornness. "Why not, Godric? We need to hide from these … muggles; these muggle-borns will lead to nothing but trouble! And with all this 'Witch Burnings' that are happening -"

"YOU KNOW PERFECTLY WELL THAT REAL WITCHES ARE SAFE FROM IT – Like Helga's friend Wendelin, BUT IT IS THE MUGGLES THAT ARE BEING MURDERED BECAUSE OF THIS … AND I CAN'T DO ANYTHING TO SAVE THEM! I can't save them Sal."

Rowena winced – when the news of the witch burnings had first been heard, Godric had gone to visit the Muggle King in hopes of persuading him to put a stop to it; but the King had been a different one to the one that had knighted Godric; one that wasn't friendly with him. Rowena had never seen Godric so – defeated as when he had returned from that meeting; she knew that if he had a choice he would protect every single being on the planet and not being able to do so was torture for him.

Godric continued speaking; no longer shouting, but his words were still heard by everyone surrounding them.

"Because of this new law of secrecy – pureblood and half-bloods should be safe; even if they do get caught they will know how to cast a 'basic Flame-Freezing-Charm'* and will be safe, but muggles can't do that, and muggle-borns won't know how to if we don't teach them. I will teach them to defend themselves so that at least some innocents are saved."

Sal sighed still trying to win the argument.

"Godric – it is those Christians that are doing this, and if we let muggle-borns in then there is a great possibility that they will cause Hogwarts to fall."

"It's not the churches fault Sal – it is all because that one Christian got hexed by a witch and he asserted his authority and is now abusing his power; making the church corrupt, but it's not their fault-" Sal rolled his eyes; Godric was just determined to see good in everyone, he muttered "from all accounts he started it."

"I don't care who started it! The consequences of it are devastating and tearing all worlds apart, but I am going to continue to teach people to defend themselves – be they pureblood, half-blood, mutant, half-breed or muggle-born; whether you approve or not."

Rowena saw Helga leave the crowd to stand beside Godric "As will I, I'm with you Godric." Rowena sighed but stepped forward to stand on the other side of the knight, she tuned to face Salazar and said "Godric is quite right Salazar, we can not close the school to one portion of our students – no matter what is happening in the world." No need to tell Sal that he suspected in the future the population of the school will be made up of mostly muggle-borns and half-bloods.

Sal huffed "fine, keep the school open to them – but if they bring any of that religious nonsense into this school and cause any trouble don't say I didn't warn you." Godric nodded "I will personally take responsibility for any trouble caused by muggle-borns."

"I'll hold you to that." Sal turned and stalked away (heading to his chamber of secrets – though no-one knew that) and Helga started sending the students out into the sun. Rowena sighed; she wished that the fight had not happened in front of students; she was sure a rift would start to form between muggle-borns and purebloods … Godric was right 'the consequences of two human's actions will far too devastating.

SSRRHHG

Cold eyes watched as the four founders left – the person had taken note of everything that had been said … or not said, and was stored away for a time in the future when it could be hopefully used to bring about the destruction of the enemy. A smirk graced the face of the one with nothing but darkness in their soul and the figured left unobserved.

SSRRHHGG

**AN – **

***In the book _Harry Potter and the_ _Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter One; Owl Post_ J. K. Rowling writes. **

**Non-magic people (more commonly known as Muggles) were particularly afraid of magic in medieval times, but not very good at recognizing it. On the rare occasion that they did catch a real witch or wizard, burning had no effect whatsoever. The witch or wizard would perform a basic Flame-Freezing Charm and then pretend to shriek with pain while enjoying a gentle, tickling sensation. Indeed, Wendelin the Weird enjoyed being burned so much that she allowed herself to be caught no less than forty-seven times in various disguises.**

**I put this in as I get sick of people making Salazar have a sympathetic reason for why he hated muggle-borns – WITCHES AND WIZARDS WERE SAFE, MUGGLES WERE NOT, and I am allowed to be mad about this because had I lived in that time – I would have been burnt at the stake for having red-hair.**

**I'm not saying Salazar is bad (I mean in this story he is practically good) but still you can't make him sympathetic for the most common reason.**

**Anyway sorry if I offended anyone, but this chapter needed to be written; partly for the above reason, and partly for the very last paragraph of this chapter – I wonder if anyone will guess the villain of this story before they are revealed? Probably.**

**If you still want to read this story and still like it then you are absolutely amazing so thank-you. **


	14. Chapter 14

**AN – This chapter doesn't really have the founders in it that much, but it is needed.**

**Anyway, I do not own Harry Potter or anything to do with it. Well I do own all the characters that you don't recognise, but they belong to the Harry Potter world so they don't really count.**

_This is a story of the Four Founders – a tale which talks of their decisions and the reasons behind them. This is the story of Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Godric Gryffindor._

Chapter Fourteen – Planting Seeds and Gaining Followers.

_Cold eyes watched as the four founders left – the person had taken note of everything that had been said … or not said, and was stored away for a time in the future when it could be hopefully used to bring about the destruction of the enemy. A smirk graced the face of the one with nothing but darkness in their soul and the figured left unobserved._

SSRRHHGG

"Her name is Helena."

The twelve year old Biham jumped and flushed red as he turned to the seventh year that was smirking at him. "I – I don't know what you are talking about."

"The first year you have been staring at for the past half-an-hour. Her name is Helena Ravenclaw; daughter of our very own Lady Rowena Ravenclaw. And aren't you a little young to be having a rush on someone?"

Biham glared at the speaker "I'm going to be a Baron – I can do whatever I like!"

"I'm not condemning you for it; in fat I am commending you. I mean, after all you could not have chosen a better girl to fall for. Daughter of one of the founders of this school, and Lady Ravenclaw is considered one of the fairest ladies in the land; and from what I have gathered from the paintings of a young Lady Ravenclaw – young Helena lover there looks just like her mother just with blond hair. I am sure that when you are both old enough to wed you will make a perfect match."

Biham felt a beam start to appear on his face, until the seventh year spoke their next words.

"Unless of course, Helena decides she would rather marry someone like say the Twins."

Biham's eyes widened – The Twins were Helga Hufflepuff's oldest children; he glanced toward the Gryffindor table where they sat – the two fourth years were the schools' most notorious pranksters and the only person who had any control of them was their mother herself. Biham let out a "no" the beautiful and talented Helena wouldn't fall for one of those idiots would she?

"Well why not – she is best friends with their sister-"

Yes, the second year Slytherin had noticed that Helena was constantly hanging around with a Hufflepuff; another first year Amelia Hufflepuff.

"- and we all know that the founder children spend time together outside of school time, so there is a good possibility that he might fall for one of them."

Biham stood up "NO! I will not let that happen I will-"

"Oh sit down before you attract any attention" Biham sat and pouted as he listened to what was being said "you really ought to watch that temper of yours – it might cause you unwanted trouble. Now what would you do if I could guarantee that Ms Ravenclaw would have none but you marry Helena – when you are both old enough."

Biham stared at the seventh year – there was something sinister in those eyes but still he asked "you could do that?" the figured smirked "I'm a seventh year – I have a lot of influence over itty-bitty first years like Helena; I can plant the seeds of liking you in her mind, and I can convince her mother that you would be the best option, but I do have to know what you would be willing to give in return for this."

Biham opened his mouth but no noise came out – he wasn't sure if he wanted to give this person anything; but before he could make up his mind two first year girls walked past the Slytherin table talking and laughing. "Come on Helena, it's a beautiful day and we have both done our homework; come outside and relax for once."

"Amelia we have exams in four months and you know my mum's opinion on study"

"Yes, and I also know that you need a break every now and then – so come on."

Helena laughed and gave in "fine – but it's fault if I don't do well" Amelia's response was lost as the girls left the Great Hall and Biham looked up at the waiting seventh year and gave his answer "anything." Another smirk "good, come with me."

They left the hall and Biham found himself trapped in a cleaning closet, he was felt a flicker of fear when the cold voice ordered "Swear it." He wanted to run away and have the whole thing forgotten n that moment, but when an image of Helena sidled into his mind he couldn't find the courage to run – so he swore an unbreakable vow (and only a small part of him noticed that it was him doing the swearing not the other party), after the spell had been cast he stared nervously "what- what do you want me to so?"

"Nothing much – I just want you keep me informed of every little thing that goes on at Hogwarts and in particular with the Four Founders, after I have left."

Well that didn't sound too bad, he could do that.

"Now I believe that you will have class to get to, and I have to start fulfilling my half of the deal" the figure walked away and Biham hurried to Herbology – wondering what he had been so worried about; of course the seventh year wanted to be kept informed of Hogwarts and in a few years Helena would want to marry him.

The young soon-to-be-baron did not realise that he had just secured himself to an eternity of chains and regrets. He didn't know that in his seventh year he would (on the order of 'the other) one day, be the cause of a poltergeist haunting Hogwarts. And he had no idea of knowing that, in a forest in Albania he would end up murdering Helena in a fit of anger – due to the firm belief the seventh year had placed in him 'that Helena Ravenclaw belonged to him. It would be, only when her blood was on his hands that Biham would realise the horrors and pain he had caused, and he would condemn himself to be ghost in chains forever more. But at the time he didn't know any of this and so walked into Herbology; not feeling any regrets.

SSRRHHGG

"I really admire you Helena"

Helena looked up from her essay someone – not just any someone but this someone who was like a sibling to her – admired her, her Helena Ravenclaw!

"I mean you don't care that you are never going to be noticed or appreciated for anything."

"What do you mean?"

"Well your mother is Rowena Ravenclaw, arguably one of the most intelligent beings on this planet – and most definitely is going to be one of the most famous witches of time. And you are her only child; the other founders all have more than one child and admittedly allow their flaws to be seen, but Rowena Ravenclaw has a reputation for being perfect. This means that everything you do will be compared to her, and nothing will ever be good enough; and if you do manage to do something completely different she will still get the credit just because of the fact that she is your mother."

Helena's quill shook in her hand as she stated "Aunt Helga – Professor Hufflepuff I mean; she always says that 'the only people who matter are the ones who love you for who you are and not for what you achieve.' which is great advice."

"And why I admire you – you will never amount to anything compared to your mother; and you don't care. Of course there will always be people who say she only has her intelligence because of that Diadem of hers."

Helena nodded – her father had had a beautiful diadem saying one of her mother's favourite quotes 'wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure' it had been made by goblins for her mother's 20th birthday; before even the idea of Hogwarts had been formed. Could that be why her mother was so gifted? No that was silly; becoming slightly scared of her thought, the first year Ravenclaw quickly changed the subject.

"So what were you planning on doing after leaving again?"

"Though I might travel a bit – learn everything I can about the world; I want to go to places like Russia, Italy, or Albania-"

"Albania?"

"Yes Albania; I have heard it is a very … intriguing place. But I should get going; I have potions in a few minutes. Enjoy studying."

And with that the figure left – the first step to the destruction of the four founders and one in particular, was in place; for though Helena was at that moment denying her insecurities, but one day they would get the better of her and she would go to lengths to get the diadem breaking her poor mother's heart.

The figure smirked as they walked to class – once the first two were out of the way, and Hufflepuff would not be a problem, then there would be a clear shot at Godric Gryffindor.

SSRRHHGG

_Three years later_

The figure sneered and flicked their wand; sending another set of ropes to the prisoner, "and why would you want to attack Salazar Slytherin?" Mitch scowled at his captor "well see 'ere it ain't really the Lord Slytherin, but he's always round that git whose got a sword see he's the loser tha' ruined ma life – ya know."

Well that was interesting "you mean Godric Gryffindor."

"Yeah, tha' was his name – the git that kicked our butts and got me men sent to prison – only I go tout an' been on the run ever since, had to resort to hanging out with goblins."

The former leader of a group of bandits that had bought the Four Founders together by planning on holding Rowena, Helga and Salazar for ransom – only to be stopped by Godric, continued rambling and muttering insults. But the figure tuned him out thinking 'well, well, well – it appears that this being could be of use; despite the fact that he was hardly any better at magic than a squib, the summoning charm seemed the only spell he could actually cast.

"Silence. Now I believe we can help one another – if you help me with a plan I have; then I will make you richer than anything you could dream of."

Mitch blinked in suspicious surprise "why would ya want ta do tha'?"

"Because it just so happens that you and I have the same goal – we both to have seek revenge on one Sir Godric Gryffindor."

"What he done ta you?"

"Nothing that you need be concerned about."

"Why don't ya just kill him yerself?"

The captor snapped – something that they usually avoided doing "because he is too powerful for me!" take a deep breath and calm down "and besides as long as the other founders surround him, he can not be touched; but I have a plan that will drive away and weaken both Ravenclaw and Slytherin and Hufflepuff is too tender-hearted to be a problem and then I will act. I will be like a snake poised and waiting full of patience until just the right moment; and then I will strike and extract my revenge.

And you can help me. So do we have an agreement or do I have to kill you?"

"Tha' don't leave much choice, alrigh' ya make me rich – an' I'll do what ya want, what do ya want anyhow?" The figure smirked.

AN – Do you know how hard it was to include anything other than age and house about the villain? And I can't believe I never gave the bandit leader a name before this – I knew I would be using him again. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN – Sorry. **

**I had exams but NOW I am done with my first year of UNIVERSITY!**

**Anyway, I do not own Harry Potter or anything to do with it. Well I do own all the characters that you don't recognise, but they belong to the Harry Potter world so they don't really count.**

_This is a story of the Four Founders – a tale which talks of their decisions and the reasons behind them. This is the story of Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Godric Gryffindor._

Chapter Fifteen – A Talk Between an Unlikely Pair.

_The captor snapped – something that they usually avoided doing "because he is too powerful for me!" take a deep breath and calm down "and besides as long as the other founders surround him, he can not be touched; but I have a plan that will drive away and weaken both Ravenclaw and Slytherin and Hufflepuff is too tender-hearted to be a problem and then I will act. I will be like a snake poised and waiting full of patience until just the right moment; and then I will strike and extract my revenge. _

_And you can help me. So do we have an agreement or do I have to kill you?" _

"_Tha' don't leave much choice, alrigh' ya make me rich – an' I'll do what ya want, what do ya want anyhow?" The figure smirked. _

SSRRHHGG

"So you are telling us that this wizarding castle is filled with gems and jewels of the most expensive and ancient kind? And you think with an army we can gain control of these?" The one in the shadows smirked – these goblins were hooked, and the downfall of Hogwart's 'Leading Lion' would commence and their victory would be sealed.

_Five years later._

It was quiet, the battle had ceased for the time being, eleven year old Annabelle Gryffindor leaned her head against the window. She knew she would be in trouble once the battle between Hogwarts and the goblins had passed, she should have evacuated the school with the rest of the under-aged students, but she wasn't the only student to sneak back in … though she was the only first year – but she was out of the way and staying in the hospital wing, which was definitely not as dangerous as what her older brothers were doing, after all they snuck back to join the fight …

Belle sighed; her father would understand the fact that she just couldn't sit by while her family was in danger, but her mother was not going to be talked out of punishing her. Belle scowled as she stared out across the grounds, when she heard the door open slightly. Belle clutched her wand but lowered it slightly as the short figure of Borrikk edged cautiously into the room.

The goblin and the girl stared at each other awkwardly in the dark then the goblin spoke in his raspy voice "you – are the - daughter of Godric Gryffindor."

Belle nodded mutely.

"… You – have his eyes."

"So I've been told. You are the goblin who came to Hogwarts to warn us about the attack."

Borrikk tilted his head in acknowledgment but said "I came because I did not like the fact that the clans had allowed a wand-holder to be in charge."

"Oh."

Another awkward silence fell, Belle glanced around the hospital wing wondering what to say; after all she was only eleven, she had no idea what to say or how to act around a goblin. Bur she was a Gryffindor (in blood and in house) and that meant she wanted to at least try "Sooooo, ummm, why are you here in the Hospital Wing?"

Borrikk started as though he had not expected her to speak again, Belle gazed innocently at him and noted that he looked slightly embarrassed as he answered "I was looking for your father, I thought he would be in this school's place of healing."

Everything fell into place for Belle at his words and she knew what he had wanted to talk to her dad about. "That would be the logical assumption, but my Dad isn't logical - he refused to be admitted because he would rather be saving or planning how to save lives, than lying around doing nothing, besides even my Mum admitted it was just a scratch; which means it actually was just a scratch and not another under-exaggeration of Dad's. If you want to find him, he should be in his office – it's the one with the gargoyle guarding it."

Borrikk nodded "uh yes I was taken there this morning."

He turned to leave but froze in the doorway when Belle started to speak again "he won't accept it you know – your thanks I mean. He might accept a gesture of thanks, but he wouldn't understand the words."

"I don't understand why he did it"

Belle had to laugh at Borrikk's confusion "Because he's Godric Gryffindor. Saving people is what makes him … him, every time he see' someone about to be injured he always jumps in and takes the blow himself – just like he did for you. He would even save an evil villain, if he believed in the existence of evil.

Uncle Sal likes to say that Dad has no sense self-preservation; although he adds in a lot of insults and words which I'm not allowed to repeat, but that's his way of showing worry. Aunt Ro has this intense theory that 'Godric has been hit on the head soo many times that his mental state is one of seeing things through a child-like innocence and perspective' or something like – she uses a lot of long words. I like Aunt Helga's thoughts best though, she says that it just is who he is, and no reason is needed – he thinks it is his job to protect the world and we should just accept it."

"You know you talk a lot."

Belle shrugged knowing it was true.

"Your Father is a very odd wizard, but under his leadership the goblin clans should soon be free from the wand-holding tyrant, and it would be considered rude of me to not thank him for saving my life, but how would I?"

"Make him something? I mean you are a goblin and goblins are known for making awesome stuff aren't you? And then as long you give it to him in a way where he can't refuse (as he is prone to do) then there that's your thanks."

Borrikk's eyes lit up at the prospect of a project "he did say, when I first meet him, that he is constantly having to get a new sword…"

Belle bit her lip to stop her from saying how she knew that, she, Alex – the younger of her older brothers – and Alex's best friend (and her future husband if she had any say in the matter) Hufflepuff, had hidden under the table of that meeting, which was better than her oldest brother, Will, who had been caught listening from behind the door.

"… I could make a weapon so spectacular, the perfect protector warrior weapon of Hogwarts, of Godric Gryffindor. Goblin made – the best – unbreakable … and it will be my most glorious achievement, being the maker of such a thing … I will go down in history."

"And it is the only thing that my Dad might accept."

Borrikk looked startled having forgotten all about the young girl, he blinked at her then said "a very strange family. However I am grateful." With that the conversation was over, Borrikk bowed his head and Belle nodded back and then the goblin left and Belle went back to thinking of arguments that would get her out of trouble, none of which she thought would work, but she had to try didn't she.

SSRRHHGG

AN – Long author's note here.

WOW I wrote this chapter in less than two days, originally this chapter gave me soo much trouble, but then I took out all the action and it was so easy. 

I know on Pottermore J. K. Rowling has given a different history of how the sword was made but I didn't use that for a few reasons.  
- I have had this idea in my head since I first read the seventh book, therefore didn't want to change it and it fits with my story.  
- I do not think I would be able to do justice to J. K. Rowling's version of the story; it does make my story AU unless you just read the books, in which case it can hopefully be considered cannon. 

This chapter does have a lot of back-story which will never be written; you all should understand it (I mean you are awesome enough to be reading this story, I think you are going to be awesome enough to understand) but if you want to know about it, then it is basically…  
- For five years goblin clans all over Britain have been suckered in with promises of gold and jewels and power by a spokesperson (Mitch) who worked for "the shadow" a figure no one ever saw but all knew the shadow was there.  
- Most of the goblins were under the impression the shadow was a goblin and all were excited about attacking Hogwarts believing it to be a warrior fortress with large quantities of jewels and precious items.  
- Borrikk and blacksmith and a few of his acquaintances never quite trusted Mitch or the Shadow and one night over heard the shadow reveal to Mitch the truth about Hogwarts being only a school and the fact that the shadow was actually wand-holder, and not a goblin.  
- However they were caught and the rest of the clans were turned against them causing them to be exiled and have killings attempts on them, as such they (lead by Borrikk) decided to ruin the plan by warning the place that the surprise attack had been planned on.  
- Once learning the news the underage students were evacuated, however a lot of Gryffindors, a fair few Hufflepuffs, some Ravenclaws and a couple of Slytherins snuck back in to help fight – only the Slytherins were praised by their head and only for their sneakiness. 

This was originally titled 'The First Battle of Hogwarts' but I can't write action. 

Thank-you to the review from guest dandle4327 that was very sweet. 

Thank-you for all your patience 

And well done if you read all this. 


	16. Final Thank-you and sorry

**Disclaimer – I do not own anything to do with Harry Potter.**

**Author's Note – **

I would like to profoundly apologise to all that are reading this story – you are all the most amazing people ever. Thank-you for reading this story.

I have had the whole story planned; there were to be shocks, twists and an ending that I liked in my head. However every time I have sat down to write the next chapter the words for the story I had planned just do not want to be written.

Saying that however – I promised to finish me work (even if it were to take me until I am 99), and so I present to you a (probably quite long) summary of how the story was meant to go. This way the story will be complete and you will know all the important details; I hope. Thank-you for your patience and time.

**Published – Wednesday 16****th**** July 2014**

Chapter 16 - In Which Everything is Explained.

So basically the battle between Hogwarts and the Goblins was going to come to a close with a Hogwarts win. The wizard Mitch is caught as the person responsible for telling the goblins that Hogwarts had halls full of treasure which lead to the attack. Before he gets sent to prison he screams that he was working for someone who promised him everything, and he throws a bit of a hissy fit before he is apparated away. The goblins and the wizards make a peace treaty (which will most definitely be broken by both sides well into the future – leading to future students of Hogwarts having to write about Goblin Wars for History of Magic).

In the background of all this the Shadow snuck into the school, Salazar thought he saw something but dismissed it.

The Goblin Borrikk made Godric a magical sword as payment for saving his life, but because goblins don't approve of giving gifts he was made a hated, outcast among his own species. Due to information on Pottermore; this theory is now AU. However this was my theory from when I first read Deathly Hallows and in my mind '' was an ancestor of Professor Flitwick as J. K. Rowling has stated that he has goblin blood.

The next few years were a bit tense for the Founders. Salazar was still wanting to ban any muggleborns from entering the school, Godric was still strongly opposing him and the ladies were on Godric's side. Rowena was, however, also dealing – in secret – with the fact that Helena had run away. Helga was just trying to keep everyone working together although she was firmly on Godric's side that anyone should be allowed to go to school.

This would have eventually escalated to the point where Salazar may have left the school in a huff as is explained in the books. However for the purpose of this story there is a bit more to the story than just that. Because; for all his disagreements with Godric, Sal would not want to give up his job as it provided him with comfort, security and power (high social status and a strong influence over other people); it served him better to be a teacher at Hogwarts.

Unfortunately two years after the goblin battle; the attacks started. Some animals were found dead and students (majority of which were Gryffindors) were found frozen stiff - but not dead. Everyone was kept busy trying to find out why and fix everything.

Godric especially was going crazier because he didn't know what was attacking his students or how he could protect them. Sal was also hearing a strange new snake voice, but he did not tell anyone – if he had Rowena would have figured it out immediately. As it was he decided to look into it on his own. He did what he always did when he wanted or needed to think; he went to his Chamber of Secrets.

-What follows is some of the actual story-

Sal frowned as he entered his chamber; something still wasn't right; for a while he had been feeling as thought there was another presence inside _his_ secret place!

"Even I must admit that this place is quite impressive; and even more so considering that you built it all without the other three idiots knowing."

A viewer would not have been able to know, but Sal stilled as he heard that voice, slowly he turned to face the speaker that was lounging in the shadows a snake wrapped around their shoulders.

"You."

"Me." Sal could hear the smug smirk in the other's voice, he examined the snake and as he recognised it; all the pieces fell into place. He raised an eyebrow and sneered in as cold a voice as only he was able to master.

"Ingenious. You manipulated '' into causing the goblins to attack us, so that you could sneak into the school and hatch that – a basilisk. You even hid in _my _personal chamber so that you would not be discovered. Then when you were ready you unleashed it onto the school in the knowledge that I would come here to figure out an answer; indicating that you seek to make a deal with me. Most cunning."

"Well that is what we Slytherins are known for."

"Indeed."

Silence fell as Sal waited to be told what the price would be to stop the attacks. Sal was a smart man he knew that if he refused whatever wad requested, the basilisk would continue to attack students until murder had occurred, and Sal knew too that it would be set up so that he would take the fall – he would lose all his power, comfort and status. A small part of him that he would never admit to having, also knew that he did not actually want anyone dead. But he refused to give in and ask for what the other wanted; he had been playing the power game for far longer and was not going to lose – not even to this one.

"I suppose you are wondering what it is that I want – well it is quite simple; you are to leave the school. Sever all ties with the others and I will put my dear pet here into a deep hibernation so as to not bother the school again."

Sal narrowed his eyes – there was more they wanted; there are numerous simpler ways that would have succeeded in getting him away from the school; the simplest would have been to just wait until he got sick of losing to Gryffindor (even though at this stage Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff had won more of the house competitions). He gazed into the other's mind. The other though also skilled at legilimency, was not as skilled as Sal. What he found was disappointing.

This Slytherin was acting, not to better themselves, to have higher status, or even for the noble cause of ruling the world. Merely done because of a wanting for Godric to be alone, because of emotions. "While I commend you for choosing and adversary so notoriously difficult to destroy, I was under the impression you had learned to fight only that which you can guarantee a win."

"I will win this fight!"

"Against Godric Gryffindor? He may be full of idiotic ideas, and he may rush into dangerous situations without even taking a moment to blink about it – but the boy has more luck, and more power in his little finger than the two of us combined."

"We shall see. Do you take the deal or not?"

"You know that I will accept, although if you were to take my advice – supporting those that win is far more rewarding than fighting against them."

Sal turned to leave but stopped and glanced back. "I have one curiosity – why?"

"Surely you know."

"I know that you seek his destruction, but not why."

That statement got an angry reaction "Because you cared more for Gryffindor than you ever did for me! But I don't need you anymore, you are weak and soft in the heart, you may think that purebloods are the only acceptable wizards but you do nothing to prove it. I however will prove it. And I will start by destroying Gryffindor."

"Envy is not a good look."

Salazar sighed and gazed sadly at his son.

"You are wrong Salvadore. On so many things. A true Slytherin need not prove he is better than anyone else, he need only know it. And I never cared for Godric more than for you – you are my son after all."

The junior Slytherin, so alike in his father's looks, sneered at Salazar. "Too bad for you father; I no longer care about what you think. You have until sunset today to leave the castle or my basilisk will start killing the muggleborns."

Salazar felt a sense of regret at the happenings but his own father's teachings were still deeply ingrained in him, and Salazar merely raised an eyebrow and swept out of the chamber, readying himself for the task ahead of him.

It was easy to start a fight with Godric; it was sad how easy fighting with Godric had become. Salazar again felt a sense of regret – his only son had chosen to try to destroy the wizard of the Light, and Sal himself was no longer best friends with the said light wizard. But Sal never let any of his emotions showed as he first argued with Godric, then with all three of the other Founders or even when he finally made his declaration. "Very well then, as the three of you all seem determined to be idiots; I shall take my leave."

That had not gone well.

Rowena had been shocked and hurt by Sal's declaration, but she was logical enough to understand. Helga had been full of questions and seeking reassurances that Sal wasn't really going to go; but her kindness combined with her years of being a mother helped her to realise that if Sal stayed; it would tear the school apart.

Godric held no such logic. He chased Sal throughout the halls arguing that 'Sal had to stay!' Salazar had to admit that a part of him was pleased that Godric still cared enough to fight for their friendship, at the same time though – Godric was doing what Godric always did; making everything more complicated.

"Salazar I won't let you leave! You just can't! Look even if you don't agree with us about muggleborns – it's halfway through the year, you just cannot leave. You can't-"

"Gryffindor, I can and certainly am going to be leaving, now let me go!"

"Sal – please …"

Salazar mentally rolled his eyes but made sure to not look Godric in his eyes – he would not be convinced out of this. "No, Sir Gryffindor." he purposely added in Godric's title as he knew that Godric only liked it to be used on formal occasions and by enemies. Everyone else he wanted to be called informally by his first name.

"Sir Gryffindor, I refuse to be in any vicinity of muggleborns; and since you refuse to refuse them to this school; I must leave. Now please, release my arm and let me go. You are making a scene." And indeed; a large crowd of students were gathered and staring at the two professors with wide eyes. Godric ignored them though.

"Sal, we're friends, we can work-"

"No Sir Godric Gryffindor we are not friends. You have such power but you choose to use it for pointless 'good' deeds, and prefer to use your sword over your wand. You have ridiculous ideas about equality for all and peace and other nonsense. You are completely ignorant of any and every danger, and you never behave as one of your social standing should behave. The only reason I ever put up with you is because of a life debt, but you refuse to believe in even the possibility of evil – which I am. I cannot stand you boy and I will not be associated with you ever again."

It didn't do any good. Godric still held onto Sal's arm; the much stronger, taller and fit Gryffindor preventing the Slytherin from leaving. The fire in the younger man's blue eyes stubbornly saying that Salazar was not leaving.

The younger man stated firmly "You're not evil Sal." Salazar narrowed his eyes. There was one word that would force Godric to let him go. A word that had started being popular within the last decade. A word that people like Godric, considered to be the most foul of all wizard words. Salazar steeled himself and stared directly into Godric's eyes as he spoke; as cruel and cold as he was able.

"Let me go, and go back to your wife of a mudblood."

The word had its desired effect. Godric let go as though struck by stinging curse. The crowed had already been watching quietly but now it seemed stunned in horror. But it was the look in Godric's eyes that were the worst and Sal felt they would haunt him for the rest of his life. The element of Gryffindor house was fire; for more reason than just the red and gold colours; Godric Gryffindor was the epitome of fire.

To those he liked he was warm and comforting; but if you incurred his wrath, his temper was a fiery as his hair and as burning as could be. It was a part of what made Godric such a powerful person. But at Salazar's words; the fire and the innocence that were always constant in Godric's eyes, that always made him look like that little boy he was when they all first met, it vanished. The eyes of the boy Godric were replaced by the eyes of the warrior Sir Godric Gryffindor. And Salazar had to work hard to not visibly gulp and step back in fear.

He would never admit it, but Godric's next words broke his heart further than what his son had already done. "You know what, you were right Lord Slytherin. There is no goodness in you." Sal almost flinched; to be the person that convinced Godric of the existence of evil in the world, was not something to be proud of.

Here ends the part of the actual story.

Now back to the summary.

So Salazar left the school, and there was a bit of almost peace. Salazar made sure to seal up his chamber and the attacks stopped and cures were found. Of course many rumours and good guesses were made and lead to the happenings of the well-known story Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Salazar went a lived at his castle and told his only daughter he was glad she had married a pureblood rather than becoming obsessed with something like her brother.

During one of the summer holidays after the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff children had left, that was when Salvadore Slytherin attacked Hogwarts and Godric. This would lead to rumours of an attack by a Sal Slytherin – adding fuel to the Slytherin is evil ideas; which Salazar Slytherin would have been absolutely thrilled about – he liked being thought of as evil.

This was the only reason the name Salvatore was chosen – so it could be talked about Sal Slytherin as either the father or the son.

The attack and confrontation was going to be quite dramatic but I really recall exactly what was going to happen. However Salazar came back – secretly (as in only the Founders and Sal's son were ever to know of this) - to save Godric then he and Rowena were going to sit in her room and play chess (Salazar cheating of course).

They talk about their children. After all Salazar's only son is like the Voldemort of this story and Rowena admits that Helena has disappeared and that she has sent the Baron to find her. Rowena admits that she is sick and that Helga figured it out after Ro's husband Richard died, but she also says to Sal's relief that Godric still believes in goodness in everyone. Because they both know that Godric would drive himself crazy to do anything to save everyone, and Hogwarts couldn't afford that, nor did Ro want that, so Sal agrees to keep Ro's sickness a secret.

A couple of days later Salvadore was came back more enraged and insane and would end up killing his father and dying himself in battle. This was because Salazar would take a knife to the back that was meant for Godric. But Sal was going to be happy to actually die; his final words were going to be "I told you so."

The following is the epilogue I had planned.

It takes place 70 years later; I cannot quite remember the exact timeline that I had originally planned.

It was an autumn afternoon one day that the forbidden forest saw an old man walking along the path. The man; whose hair had once been as red as fire was now as white as the moon, his skin was leathery with wrinkles and laugh-lines, and he no longer moved with constant energy of leaps and bounds. But Godric Gryffindor still stood and walked as a noble knight, his bearing still held the power that commanded all who encountered him, and his blue eyes still held the starlight of mischief.

Slowly he made his way beside the stream, making his way to the middle of the forest; a place that only the Founders and the ones they had married had known about. It was a clearing; a circle of trees surrounding four giant marble statues and four tombs. Godric arrived and eased himself onto a boulder leaning against a tree. He leaned back and gazed fondly at the four statues. A cunning looking snake, an intelligent eagle, a loyal badger, and towards the east his own lion resting protectively in front of the rest and his yet to be filled tomb.

The old man smiled and began to speak.

"Here we are, all four again.

I was told that I am a great-great- grandfather today. Which means you are a great-great-grandmother Helga. Our granddaughter, it's still hard to believe that my daughter married one of your sons, she married that Weasley boy.

Oh you would hate him Sal, he and his whole family are as Gryffindor-ish and muggle-loving as you can get, but don't worry the Malfoy family you are so fond of, still has that family rivalry going on with the Weasleys. Oh Helga one of your other granddaughter's just got engaged … to Abbot Someone, or was that Someone Abbot? Oh well he was a nice young Hufflepuff either way.

Oh; you'll be happy to know Ro – Ravenclaw one the house cup last year. And we have a Slytherin Minister of Magic, isn't that good Sal?

You know I still have trouble believing that I am the last of us still alive, we were all convinced that I would be the first to die; doing something stupid and heroic. Instead though Sal died being heroic; don't worry as per your request I haven't told a soul that. Then Ro died from a sickness; I still wish you had told me I would've travelled the world to find a cure for. Then Helga dying suddenly of an accidental rock fall; at least you did not feel any pain.

And here I am; an old man, Headmaster of the oldest magical school in Britain. Yeah, yeah I finally admitted I'm the Headmaster don't look so smug. Actually I'm not, not anymore – I finally retired just yesterday. It was a little bit sad to hand over my school to another, but it was time and I know the school will be safe.

Even with Peeves causing chaos, but the Baron keeps him in line. Ro, I hope you do believe me when I say that even though Helena is a ghost, I'm sure she loves you, why else would she have come back to Hogwarts?

I hid my sword – in the sorting hat; which I still like by the way! Well now any true Gryffindor that needs help, especially to save someone, they'll be able to pull it out of the hat and they'll be able to pull it from wherever the sword is.

I want you to know … I love you all. The three of you are my best friends, my family. Even you Sal, even though we fought and you hated all things good I still love you brother … I am – for once - being completely serious, you all at some point stated that me saving you when I was ten –was I ever that young? – was amazing to your lives, I don't think any of you realised how important to me it was.

I never got to properly thank-you; I said thank-you but I wish I could have told you in a more official-have-you-believe-me-way.

I love you three.

What is dying like?

I have faced death so many times and always survived … now I cannot defeat him … I do not even want to … to live for forever would be … lonely I think.

Although it would be incredible to watch the numerous grandchildren of mine, and Helga's grandchildren and those that are the grandchildren of the both of us, grow up … And to see all the Hogwarts students and how Hogwarts will flourish …Remember how we came up with the name, Ro and Sal complaining about warts and hogs. It was really quite funny.

Do you know, I think I am finally ready to greet Death as the old friend he really is. I will see you all, and my beautiful wife soon … soon.

It's a beautiful day don't you think."

Godric stopped talking and rested his head against the tree. He started singing the Hogwarts school song then slowly fell silent and listened to the nature of the forest.

Red and gold leaves gently wafted down from the tree branches and the sun warmly caressed the magical clearing. And so it was that the last of the Hogwarts Founders, an old wizard with the spirit of a ten year old hero, slept with a smile on his face.

And for a time; all was well.


End file.
